A call for a Demigod
by 15Wolffan8
Summary: Sequel to The Exchange of a Wizard. Greek monsters are threatening to invade Hogwarts under Voldemort's instructions and the Wizard Community have failed to come up a spell, charm, potion (or anything for that matter) to destroy them so Harry calls upon Percy, Annabeth and Nico for help. The demigods offer them their help but when the battle arrives, will they be prepared enough?
1. Waterstag

Set during the Half-Blood Prince and just after The Last Olympian.

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.

This is the sequel to The Exchange of a Wizard.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

* * *

The Ocean's waves assaulted the surrounding rocks and cliffs, sending salt spray soaring into the air and raining down once more like sparkling crystals. They would flow forwards but to be drawn backwards, churning and crashing in a continuous dance, the moon's gravitational pull controlling the tides. But that, of course, was a lie. The moon does not control the Ocean, how could a piece of rock, approximately 384,400km away, rule over our seas? Poseidon, The God of the Seas, in fact, directs them. However, if you expressed these views in public (Maybe a Museum, Classroom, or just shouting it in the streets) you'd be branded as an idiot or, if you are of age, an intoxicated drunkard. If you were stupid enough to say this in a religious environment (Maybe a church or any other places of worship that is not Ancient Greek) you'd probably be huffed at, shouted at, or in some extreme cases, beaten. People don't like it when you express a different view from them, especially in their 'environment', so the best course of action would be to keep your mouth shut and retain yourself from strangling those who think their views are the only 'right' views.

Percy Jackson, however, seems to fail the simplicity of not challenging people's opinions publicly and in their territory and, therefore, he finds himself in situations were he's running away from what can only be described as an angry mob, thinking: _Why me?_ To answer himself immediately with: _Oh yeah, because I'm a total douchebag. _He isn't totally clueless to openly state:

"My name is Percy Jackson and I'm the son of the Greek God of the Seas: Poseidon! As a demigod, I save all of your worthless asses on a day-to-day basis, risking my life in the process. When I'm fighting a monster, usually saving someone by doing it, all you see is a teenage boy hitting an old lady with a baguette and you automatically see me as the bad guy! I helped save the world when I was sixteen and lost friends in the process. I'm friends with a Wizard from England, my best friend is a satyr and my girlfriend is the daughter of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom!"

he knew _that_ wouldn't go done well with the mortals. He didn't know why the demigods call non-demigods 'mortals', as if he wasn't. He was anything but immortal, his life being threatened on both the human world and the God's world. Percy did get annoyed sometimes when his awesomeness is wrongly mistaken for 'Threatening' or 'Malicious' or 'Murderous', (It wasn't his fault that, that hobo looked a bit like a Harpie) but it was hard to care too much when he was at Camp Half-Blood, especially with Annabeth at his side.

They were sitting on a rounded rock, shaped uncannily like a pancake, watching the sea. Percy loved to just watch the water for it cleared his head and erased any negative thoughts or stress he was experiencing. He also couldn't deny the tug the sea had over him, as if it was calling him home. He could taste the salt of the waters on his lips and his hair was tangled from the wind, a sand-tornado would occasionally hit and he would shield Annabeth from the onslaught by hugging her. He found it peaceful but he knew Annabeth strongly disagreed.

He felt her shift and wriggle next to him and he heard her exasperated sigh even though she tried to hide it. His lip twitched slightly when he glanced at her and saw her eyebrows furrowed down slightly in a small frown. This was an indicator that Annabeth was becoming restless and the silence between them was becoming uncomfortable for her. Annabeth was probably the most patient demigod when it came to sitting still but eventually her ADHD would kick in and she would demand to move around. She could, however, sit still for hours when it came to studying architecture or reading the mountains of books she kept in her cabin, just like Percy could sit and look at the sea without moving for the same amount of time. But he knew that he would have to pause his reflection as not to anger Annabeth (She could become quite angry and snappy when she was restless).

"Do we have Capture-the-flag this afternoon?" he asked casually, his arm was around Annabeth and he brought her closer to him so it stopped her fidgeting.

"Yes. So you better start training for it." She said, poking his arm. If he didn't know Annabeth, that would have been an innocent enough comment but as he did, he tightened his arm around her and shook her slightly.

"I am not unfit!" he declared as she laughed and tried to stop him shaking her.

"You've not trained properly for over 2 weeks. I'm sure your stomach is getting larger." Percy changed his expression so it was mock-surprise and hurt before tackling her and bringing her arms above her head. He was sure that Annabeth could have easily pushed him of her but she was too busy laughing to even try.

"Am I too strong for you, Miss Chase?" She looked up at him then, recognising the challenge in his tone. She smirked at him before pushing up and knocking him to the ground. Usually, a move like that would have winded him but he was prepared for it. He sprang to his feet and met Annabeth head-on as she ran at him, her arms straight ahead of her. Because they didn't have weapons with them, they resulted in throwing punches and kicks at each other. Hardly any reached the other person because Percy and Annabeth were quite equal in fighting strategy and both were being quite playful as they laughed and mocked each other.

Neither of them noticed, however, that they were gradually getting closer to the sea and they only realised when they felt water lap at their feet. Percy knew Annabeth was about to place her hand up in the air, saying that the fight wasn't fair when they were in the water so he lunged forwards in an act of either bravery or stupidity. Annabeth, not anticipating the move, didn't have a chance to defend herself as Percy wrapped his arms around her waste and flung them into the water. He kept a secure hold of her as he swam upwards towards the surface, his whole body tingling from the power he received when he was in or near the water. However, he stayed under for a few seconds longer than necessary to grab something from the seabed. Annabeth spluttered when they broke the surface before turning towards Percy, anger plastered on her face.

"What the hell…" she paused when she saw Percy grinning and extending his hand towards her. In his hand was a pearl; it's surface smooth and white as new fallen snow. Percy's grin widened when Annabeth gasped, her mouth falling down into an 'O' shape.

"For you." He whispered, gently grabbing her hand and placing the pearl into her palm. He watched smugly as she stroked it carefully.

"Thank you." She whispered back before reaching forwards and kissing him. It was short, however, because the waves began to pick up again and Percy had to guide them to shore. "We better get back," Annabeth said as she pulled her hair into a loose ponytail. "I need to change for Capture-the-flag." Shrugging, Percy put his hand on her hip and guided her towards the voices and noises of the camp. Annabeth had the habit of asking random questions for no other reason but for curiosities sake so when she asked him: "What do you call Demigod's children?" he didn't freak out and run away shrieking:_ "Get away from me demon!"_ Instead, he glanced at her and smiled.

"A miracle." Annabeth laughed and Percy chuckled. "Semi-demigod?" By the time they reached the other campers they were in fits of laughter.

* * *

Capture the flag could only be described as a disaster for Annabeth's team. Half of her teammates had completely ignored her instructions and had decided to run after the opponents flag, leaving their own undefended. The other half had been with her, discussing their battle strategy when they had charged forwards towards the other team, revealing their whereabouts. She knew as soon as the other team saw them that they had no chance.

Percy, who was usually with her in attacking position but had been put in defending out of revenge for pushing her into the sea, was the only one to stay defending the flag. The other team's attackers had been alerted that their defences were down and had ran towards their flag, the only challenge was who would be the one to grab the flag first. Percy, however, was having none of that. Even though it was 23-1, he put up a fight, taking out 15 before being taken out himself.

Now Annabeth was nursing his wounds, anger and guilt still fresh. He had five cuts on his face, six on both arms and four on his right leg when he had stuck it out to stop some members of the other team from getting the flag whilst battling others. _Stupid boy_, she thought fondly, _you should have just let them take it._ She knew Percy too well to think that the famous Percy Jackson would just 'give-up', even at something like Capture-the-flag.

She would have scolded him if he was conscious but he had been brutally knocked out by Yandi Brantony when she accidentally raised her sword and brought the handle down on his head, panicking when he had turned towards her. She had been apologizing ever since and if it weren't for Chiron reasoning with her, she probably would have attacked Yandi for such a move. She shuddered when she thought that if Yandi had struck him a few more centimetres to the right, she probably would have paralysed him or even killed him. That was enough for Annabeth to nurture Percy without a break and pamper him when he woke up.

"Annabeth?" Annabeth spun around at the sound of her name and stopped short.

"Nico?" she asked surprised as the Son of Hades walked into the infirmary, his back completely straight. Nico had grown up dramatically since the war, both physically and mentally. He was only thirteen but he looked sixteen. Even though he was shorter than her, Nico had a way of looking important and intimidating. His black hair framed his face quite nicely and Annabeth could tell that he was growing a fringe. As she looked at his face, she still couldn't tell if Nico was wearing black eye shadow and mascara or if his eyes are naturally that dark and his eyelashes that long. He didn't look bad or silly but she couldn't let the opportunity pass if Nico de Angelo wore make-up and she knew Percy would think Christmas had come early if it was true.

"How is he?" he asked, walking towards Percy's other side.

"He'll live." She murmured. "Why are you here, Nico?" she made sure her voice was filled with curiosity, not rudeness for she didn't want him to leave and never return to the camp. He was hardly here.

"I've got a message for him." he shrugged as if it was unimportant.

"What is it?" she asked as she leant forwards, hovering over Percy. Nico looked up at her, obviously deciding whether or not he should tell her.

"A message from Harry Potter," he ignored Annabeth's intake of breath and carried on. "He wants to talk to Percy."

"What about?" Annabeth jumped slightly. She looked down to see Percy sitting up slightly, his elbow supporting him. She felt even guiltier that she hadn't noticed he had woken and so leant down and kissed him. She felt him smile before she drew back. "Hello."

"Hello." She smiled.

"About what?" he turned back to Nico who was looking away, lost in thought. "Nico!" Percy raised his voice only to choke, his throat dry. Annabeth grabbed a cup of water and made him drink it, rolling her eyes as she did so.

"I don't know," Nico said. "All he said was to be near the sea at 4." He shrugged again.

"How do you know all of this?" Annabeth asked, suspiciously.

"I have…contacts." Annabeth shivered at the words without fully understanding why.

"It's five to 4." Percy suddenly sat up despite Annabeth's protests. Grunting, she decided to help him stand instead of pushing him down onto the bed. "We better go." And so Annabeth and Nico supported Percy when they walked, despite Percy's protests.

* * *

"Is something supposed to happen?" Annabeth asked, her hands wrapped around herself as the wind picked at her skin. Percy was looking out to sea, feeling the usual peace he always felt.

"Maybe." He said, shrugging slightly and enjoying the wind rather than finding it annoying like Annabeth and Nico. He glanced over at Nico who had his hands in his pockets and drawing circles in the sand with his right foot. Percy knew that Nico was trying to contact Bianca's spirit and was failing. He wanted to comfort Nico but felt awkward even thinking about trying.

"Percy!" Percy span around towards Annabeth who was pointing towards the water. The water was spiralling upwards and was slowly forming together to create a shape. Percy watched in awe as the water formed a head, then four legs and eventually antlers: A stag. It was extremely beautiful, reflections bouncing of it.

"Percy?" Harry's voice came from the stag, silky and quiet. Percy was in too much shock to answer but of course Annabeth regained her composure before Nico and himself.

"He's here, Harry." She said.

"Hello Annabeth." the stag said. "Percy I need your help."

"What's wrong?" He chocked out the words, trying to ignore the breathtaking beauty of the waterstag.

"Hogwarts is in danger." Harry's voice was getting slightly louder, the panic starting to come through. "The Order of the Phoenix has discovered that Voldemort's made allies with some of the monsters in your world. The Witches and Wizards that have seen them and tried to fight them told the Order that most of our spells and potions don't work on them and the ones that do, do minor damage. And now there's evidence suggesting that Voldemort's got a spy in Hogwarts and when he attacks, there'll be nothing we can do about it. Percy, I need a demigod's help." He was sounding extremely desperate and Percy found himself replying without even thinking.

"Of course we'll help you." When his mind finally caught up to his mouth, he flinched and slowly turned around, expecting an angry Annabeth and Nico but they were both nodding their heads in approval. With a relieved smile, he turned back to the stag.

"Really? That's brilliant!" he exclaimed.

"So how do we get to you?" he asked. He heard Harry's chuckle before the stag fell apart and created and whirlpool in its place.

"Just jump." Harry instructed, amusement in his tone. "Like old times." With a grin, Percy took Annabeth's hand and jumped in, Nico and Annabeth by his side.

* * *

So that's the first chapter! Hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to review :) -x-


	2. Hogwarts

For Percy, and for any normal person, transportation by whirlpool was unpleasant, disorientating and nauseating; not a way of travelling he would recommend. At first, Percy had experienced a tingling sensation across his arms and legs whilst his head felt oddly light but soon changed to excruciatingly painful. His skull felt like it was being compressed by all angles, along with his body, and the tingling sensation turned to a soothing coolness to freezing in half a second flat. His throat closed up and his eyes burned despite the bitter cold the rest of his body was being beaten with. It felt like the whirlpool was deliberately trying to create a Percy-Jackson-Smoothie - a pretty humiliating way to die. All in all, the journey to Hogwarts was not as pleasurable as sitting with your friends in the Hogwarts Express, stuffing yourself with sweets and, in Neville Longbottom's case, chasing after a run-away toad for half of the trip.

All of this, however, ended quite suddenly, resulting in Percy falling onto the floor, wrenching and spluttering – feeling as if he had inhaled the whole ocean. When he had eventually stopped coughing up his lungs, he realised that someone was standing over him and if he concentrated on his hearing, he could hear a faint chuckle coming from the figure. He slowly raised his head to see Harry Potter grinning down at him, his emerald eyes sparkling from the lights reflection.

"Get up, seaweed brain." He heard Annabeth's familiar voice command as he was hauled to his feet by who must have been Nico. "You're embarrassing us all." Percy didn't retaliate – he could tell that Annabeth was concerned for him for her hand twitched, resisting the urge to support him herself and her eyes were scrunched up slightly as if she was trying to decipher any injuries or discomforts he had. He smiled reassuringly at her, which she returned, gratefully. Percy looked at Nico, who had brought Percy's arm over his shoulder, to see that he was much paler than usual, looking more like 'the King of Ghosts' than he had ever done. Percy was slightly glad that he wasn't the only one to be affected by the whirlpool.

"Percy!" Harry exclaimed, flinging his arms around him and almost knocking Percy off-balance. He drew back and gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm glad you came." He turned towards Annabeth and hugged her too, Annabeth's expression turning to an excited grin. Percy felt a piercing feeling in his stomach that stopped when Harry turned to Nico, shaking his hand and thanking him for coming. Nico murmured that it was no big deal as he looked down, blushing slightly.

"As heart-wrenching and unbelievably touching this reunion is, I think it would be best for us, and the whole Wizardry Community, for us to get started on this meeting. If that's ok with Mr Potter?" Percy turned towards the dull drawl to see a thin man with a long, black cloak wrapped around his shoulders standing a few foot away, his back straight and a wand casually in-between his fingers. He was obviously trying to come across relaxed but the tension in his shoulders and alertness in his dark eyes told Percy that he was uncomfortable, probably expecting an attack. _Paranoid_, Percy thought and briefly wondered what could have caused it. Harry was scowling at the man and when Percy took in the shoulder-length, black, greasy hair, he realised that this man must be Severus Snape, Potion master and tormenter of children.

"If you will introduce us, Harry, that would be splendid." An old man sat behind a desk at the end of the room, his long, white beard touching his crossed hands and his bright, blue eyes shinning with amusement and fondness. _Professor Dumbledore_. Harry cleared his throat before pointing to a tall, ginger boy to his right.

"This is Ron Weasley." Percy remembered Harry mentioning Ron and the Weasley family, how they were the closest thing to family Harry had. Percy nodded to him and Ron nodded back, his hands securely placed in his pants pockets. Harry's hand then drifted to the girl who was standing next to Ron, her curly, brown hair falling into her eyes only to be unsuccessfully placed behind her ear.

"Hermione Granger."

"It's nice to meet you."

"And you." Annabeth said, smiling at Hermione, who smiled back.

"Gryffindor's Head-of-House: Professor McGonogal." He pointed to the witch that was standing next to Professor Dumbledore, her pointed hat similar to the Halloween versions. She nodded and Percy nodded back.

"Professor Snape." He muttered, waving his hand in Snape's direction, distastefully and in return, Snape sneered.

"And Professor Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts." Dumbledore stood up then, his Wizard robes reaching town to his toes so it looked like he was wearing a dress. Percy lowered his head, trying to conceal his smirk and retain his laughter.

"This is Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson and Nico de Angelo: Daughter of Athena, Son of Poseidon and the Son of Hades." Percy saw Hermione shiver at the mention of Hades and had to turn his back slightly, his laughter threatening to burst out.

"An honour, I assure you." Professor Dumbledore said, his hands crossed in front of him.

"I still think that having _outsiders_ in Hogwarts is a terrible idea. Even worse than having Mud…"

"That's enough of that, thank you Phineas." Dumbledore muttered to Phineas Nigellus Black's portrait. Percy had to blink several times before he vaguely accepted the fact that the portrait was indeed moving, talking and insulting. Harry had briefly mentioned that the portraits in Hogwarts moved and talked, often moving to different frames whenever they felt like it but he had never really thought of the possibility until now.

He glanced around the whole room for the first time. The room was circular and full of queer looking artefacts – most his mind couldn't even comprehend. Jars filled with different potions were placed in cabinets along with what looked like exotic herbs and flowers and some of the silver instruments emitted smoke, ranging from red to blue to green. Phineas Nigellus Black was not the only portrait decorating the walls. The other Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts were all gazing at them with great interest, leaning so far forwards that Percy was expecting them to fall right out of their frames. The whole thing was brilliantly bizarre.

"I hope Harry has explained what we have requested from you?" Dumbledore suddenly asked him, his half-moon spectacles slipping slighting down his nose, reminding Percy of his old Maths teacher.

"Yes sir." He found himself replying automatically only to tighten his lips in embarrassment. Apparently, it was the correct response for only Annabeth and Nico found it slightly amusing.

"Good." He returned to sit behind the claw-footed desk, his cloak ruffled by his movements. "Do you have any suggestions to solve our little problem?" he asked before suddenly swishing his wand, eight chairs suddenly appearing in front of the desk. Professor McGonogal and Snape sat on the chairs next to the headmaster's whilst Harry, Ron and Hermione sat down on the three in front of it. Glancing at each other, the demigods awkwardly sat on the remaining chairs, their ADHD stopping them from being comfortable.

"The weapons that we usually fight monsters with would help." Annabeth replied, a piece of her hair falling from behind her ear. Percy had to look away to resist the temptation of placing it back again.

"Could we gain access to them?" Professor McGonogal spoke for the first time; he voice held a strong authority that even Athena would be jealous of. Not that he'd ever mention that in front of her.

"It may take time," he said thoughtfully, regretting the fact that he hadn't even told Chiron where they were going. "But I think it'll be possible."

"Excellent."

"We'd have to train you." Annabeth added hesitantly so Percy reached out and gently took her had to calm her nerves. She visibly relaxed.

"Of course." Dumbledore acknowledged, his head nodding faintly.

"Who would you train?" Hermione asked. Percy had noticed that Hermione had been moving around in her chair for 10 minutes, obviously eager to ask a question but unable to for whatever reason.

"Miss Granger…" Snape hissed.

"No, no, Severus – it's a perfectly reasonable question," Percy saw Harry and Ron share amused glances. "I think that, if it's not too much trouble of course, for the Order to be trained and maybe some members of – What was it called? – Dumbledore's army?" This time Hermione, Ron, Harry and Dumbledore shared knowing looks whilst Professor McGonogal and Snape looked at the disdainfully.

"Are you sure that's wise, Professor?" Professor Snape asked, narrowing his eyes at the three Gryffindors.

"Absolutely." I like this guy, Percy thought. "And now, it's getting late. Three beds have been set up in the Gryffindor Common room and you are welcome to attend Harry's lesson's tomorrow," Percy saw Annabeth's eyes brighten at the prospect of attending Magic-Classes. "I'll let you know when I require your assistance but for now, goodnight." He heard the dismissal in Dumbledore's tone so he rose to his feet, following the Gryffindor's out of the room and down a spiral staircase.

"We can finally use the fake Galleons again!" Hermione exclaimed as soon as they reached the end of the corridor.

"That's great Hermione." Ron said unenthusiastically.

"Let's just hope we can actually train them." Nico muttered to him.

Once they had eventually reached the Common Room, they had walked 7 flights of stairs and Percy was ready to collapse there and then. Hermione had taken Annabeth's hand and led her up one of the staircases – Annabeth smiling a small smile before disappearing. Ron and Harry then led Nico and Percy up the other staircase, Percy groaning that he had to walk up _another_ flight of stairs, and instructed them which bed was theirs. As Percy got changed for bed, he had borrowed some of Harry's pyjamas, he realised that he hadn't bothered to look around the Common Room when they had arrived. All he knew was that there were two staircases, a fireplace and a _lot_ of red decoration.

"G'night Percy, Nico." He heard Harry's muffled voice from the bed to his right and Nico's murmur for a reply to his left. Ron was already snoring.

"Night." He whispered. Percy felt sceptical at being at Hogwarts: On one hand it was a great new experience to see first-hand magic but on the other, he had just thrown himself in the middle of a battle. Again. Not only himself but Nico and Annabeth too and if anything happened to either of them, it would be his fault. Percy wouldn't be able to live with himself.

It was because of this happy thought before he drifted of to unconsciousness that he had the dream – no other reason and no arguments. It was, after all, just a dream.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed it :) Sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes; I kind of rushed it. Anyway, feel free to review -x-


	3. Prophecy

_The walls were smeared with what seemed like thick, black slime, which was giving off an eye-watering odour and a slow, slithering sound echoed around the dungeon. Percy was suddenly grateful for the lack of light. He didn't know where he was, how he got there or why. The sad thing was, he'd been in worse situations. _

_"Perseus." Percy span around, his hand automatically reaching for riptide but soon discovering that his pen was not in his pocket where he usually kept it. Panicking slightly, Percy checked all of his pockets (Even resulting in checking his shoes) before accepting the fact that he was defenceless and completely alone. He half-heatedly hoped._

_"Whose there?" he commanded, his voice staying strong despite the thundering beating of his heart. A harsh chuckle replied_

_"That doesn't matter."_

_"It kind of does." He muttered, which just made the bodiless voice laugh even louder. _

_"I know all about you, Percy Jackson." The voice began. "I know that you are a child of the Gods and you stood victorious over Kronos, the Titan King himself!" Percy felt himself shiver as the voice drew closer and the room got colder. "Just imagine how much power we could have if we joined forces!" He was momentarily stunned before he began to shake his head in disbelief. _

_"Are you insane?" the laughter immediately stopped and was replaced with the hissing._

_"You will join me Percy Jackson. So make it easier on yourself and join me with no fuss – I can guarantee it'll be worth your while." This time, it was Percy's time to laugh harshly._

_"Did nobody tell you that if you want to make friends, you shouldn't kidnap them?" he scoffed. "I can guarantee _you_ that I will _never_ join you." _

_"You will." The forced calm was much more menacing than if it had yelled at him. "You refuse to join me on your own free-will so I'll have to compromise. What happens next is your own doing, Son of Poseidon." _

_The last thing Percy remembered before waking up with a gasp was a large snake appearing from the darkness and striking at his face, venom dripping from its fangs and its blood-red eyes scorching into his mind. _

Harry had practically dragged Percy and Nico out of bed the next morning, thrusting Gryffindor robes into their hands and ordering them to get changed quickly. Percy had only just figured out how to tie his tie when Harry had grabbed his arm and hauled him down the stairs, ignoring his angry protests and shouts for explanation. When they reached the Common Room, Percy was not at all surprised to see all of the Gryffindors staring at him and Nico as if they were rare artefacts in a museum.

"Seamus Finnigan." An Irish boy with sandy hair and blue eyes stepped in front of Percy and extended his hand, which Percy took and shook. "I'm sharing your dormitory."

"I'm Percy Jackson and this is Nico De Angelo."

"Dean Thomas." Another boy approached him, shook his hand and then pointed towards Seamus. "I'm in your dorm too."

"And so is Neville Longbottom." Seamus added as he pulled a blushing blond boy towards him. Neville murmured his greeting, which Nico and Percy mimicked.

"I'm Parvati Patil…"

"And I'm Lavender Brown." Two girls said, giggling and clutching at each other's arms. They were both undeniably pretty but Percy didn't allow himself to look at them properly, even though Parvati was gazing at him and smiling. Somehow, he knew Annabeth would know and that would defiantly be a bad thing. Lavender was fluttering her eyelashes at Nico and Percy almost laughed out loud at the uncomfortable expression on Nico's face.

"Well we'd better be going." Harry announced the room at large as he half-pushed him out of the room and the portrait hole, Percy almost tripping over.

"What about Annabeth?" he asked, trying to wriggle out of Harry's grasps but to no avail.

"She's already at breakfast with Hermione." Percy relaxed slightly and allowed himself to be guided, whilst murmuring complaints so not be submissive. Walking down all of the steps was defiantly not as hard as walking up them, Percy was glad to find. The walls around him were covered in more moving portraits and he was able to witness one character from a painting literally walk into its neighbours.

"Where're we going?" Nico asked, frowning.

"The Great Hall," Harry replied, smiling at those who waved at him. "For breakfast." The large, oak doors to the Great Hall were already open when they arrived, emitting students from other houses as well as Gryffindors. Like the Gryffindors, they all stared.

"You'll get used to it." Harry muttered as he pointed towards a long table near the end of the room and gestured for him to go to it. It didn't take Percy very long to pick out Annabeth.

"How was your night?" he whispered to her as he took the seat opposite, Harry sitting next to him and Nico awkwardly squeezing himself in-between Annabeth and a Gryffindor boy. He placed some bacon on his plate, only admiring the enchantment that refilled the food for a second before taking a bite of his breakfast.

"It was ok." She replied, taking a sip of orange juice. He looked up when she paused. Annabeth was poking at her egg with a fork, her brow furrowed and her lips tight together.

"What's wrong?" she looked up at him and sighed.

"I had a weird dream last night." She shrugged but her whole body was tense, suggesting agitation. He leant forward, the food forgotten.

"What was it about?"

"I can't really remember. I know someone…threatened me." Her expression was pained as she tried to recall something she had forgotten. "And I was…scared." Gently, Percy took her hand, smiling when she relaxed.

"I had a similar dream." Nico suddenly said, his voice serious and tense. "A threat and a bodiless voice." That sparked a memory off in Percy's head and his hand unconsciously tightened around Annabeth's.

"Me too." He muttered, his eyes scrunching up when he tried to remember his dream but failed.

"So we all had the same dream?" Annabeth asked incredulously. "That is _not_ a good sign."

"And not one of us can remember details." Nico practically growled. "Probably _important_ details."

"Well we can't ponder on it now." Percy stated when Harry stood up and gestured for them to follow him. "We've got Harry's lessons to go to."

"I'm not going." Nico said, leaning back and picking up his fork.

"And why not?" Annabeth asked but Nico just shrugged in response. She let out an exasperated sigh before standing up and following Hermione, Harry and Ron out of the room, Percy close behind her.

* * *

It would be sensible to have a basic idea about your location before wandering about and exploring or to at least remember your way back. Nico, it seems, is not. He'd only been walking around the castle for ten minutes before realising he had no idea where he was or how to get back to Gryffindor tower. The corridors all looked the same, as well as the windows, and the portraits were no help for many of them also held Phineas Black's views that 'outsiders', like himself, should not be allowed in Hogwarts. One portrait had even gone to the extent to send him in the completely wrong direction and resulting in him wandering down even darker corridors, which was completely fine with him, being the son of Hades and all. He eventually found himself in the library, walking down isles of books and ignoring the giggles from students.

"Move out of my way!" he heard someone command, a shriek immediately following. He stretched upwards to see over the bookshelf and saw a bunch of Slytherins throwing other students out of the way and sitting in their previously occupied chairs. The one with bright blond hair and a smirk plastered on his face fitted the description of Draco Malfoy perfectly. Nico's observation became correct when a brown haired girl with a face uncannily similar to a pug laughed and said:

"You should have dragged them away, Draco." Draco just laughed with her as he flung his bag onto the table and began to pull out books and parchment. Nico was about to carry on with his book browsing but something Draco said made him stop and pay closer attention to their conversation.

"I can't believe they're letting outsiders into Hogwarts." He huffed and angrily flipped through a book, the pages ripping slightly because of his aggression. "It's about time that Hogwarts has…a new headmaster."

"What does that mean?" the girl asked, puzzlement crossing her face.

"Doesn't matter." He muttered, rolling his eyes in exasperation and waving his hand in a lazy dismissal.

"Has anybody told you it's rude to spy on people." Somebody suddenly whispered into his ear, making him gasp and spin around in shock. A rather tall Ravenclaw boy was standing next to Nico with a grin on his face, his blue eyes searching Nico's face, which made Nico blush.

"I wasn't." he mumbled lamely whilst turning away and rummaging through the books in front of him. He stroked the spines of books and scowled when dust stuck to his finger. He had to stop, however, when the boy stuck his hand in front of Nico's face.

"I'm Jake Copperdale." He announced, still grinning. Nico sighed and shook his hand.

"Nico de Angelo." He introduced himself, quickly dropping Jake's hand and grabbing a book at random so he could leave without seeming too rude. However, when he sat at a table, Jake simply took the opposite chair, placing his bag on the chair next to him and placing his arms onto the table.

"I've never met a demigod before," he said conversationally. "To be honest, I didn't even know the Greek Gods existed until Dumbledore announced that demigods were coming to Hogwarts." Jake pulled a book out of his bag and placed it in front of him. "So whose son are you?" he asked, curiosity practically gleaming in his eyes. Hoping that the name of his father would make him shiver and run away, Nico smiled at Jake and placed his hands onto the table too.

"Hades." It was quite comical to see Jake's eyes widen in surprise.

"The God of the Underworld?" he asked in shock.

"The very same." He said cheerfully, returning to reading: Quidditch throughout the ages, whatever the hell that means.

"That's pretty cool." Jake breathed, making Nico look up suddenly in his own surprise. Jake's curiosity had, if possible, increased and there was defiantly admiration in his expression.

"It's not when monsters become attracted to you. And not in a good way." He muttered, making Jake laugh. Jake's laugh was quite contagious and Nico found himself laughing with him, unable to stop even when the librarian told them to be quiet or leave.

* * *

Learning magic would have been an extremely exciting and amazing experience if Annabeth could actually perform magic. The lessons themselves were not boring, they were quite fascinating, but watching everybody else perform magic in a no-big-deal way made her feel jealous and as she walked out of charms, she felt a wave of annoyance wash over her. Percy seemed to be just as putout if his pouting and nose wrinkling was anything to go by. His hands were securely in his pockets and he was slouching slightly, his sulking posture, she thought fondly.

Harry was guiding them outside to the grounds (Hermione had gone up to the library and Ron had gone to find some food, probably chicken) and he continued to do so until he stopped under a great oak tree. Annabeth looked across the lake and at the trees surrounding its perimeter, admiring the scene. It was getting close to autumn and already the leaves were turning to yellow and orange, creating a contrast with the usual green and those that fell onto the lake made it look enchanted, especially the pink blossoms. All in all, Hogwarts Castle wasn't the only magical thing around. Percy shifted beside her so he was in her line of sight, which made Annabeth gasp at how perfect he looked with the sun shinning on his face and the background making him look like a painting. She blushed when he looked at her and turned away.

"We'll need to contact Chiron before we can begin the training," Percy was saying to Harry whilst glancing at her curiously. "Do you have any suggestions about how?" he asked. Harry grinned in response before gesturing to the lake.

"Whirlpool."

"How does it work?" Percy asked, frowning.

"A mixture of a Patronus Charm and Poseidon's Power." He said as he stood up and walked towards the water. "When you transported here, Dumbledore apparated you to his office." He explained, pointing his wand at the lake and shutting his eyes in concentration. It was quite breath taking to watch when the familiar looking stag burst out of Harry's wand and dived under the surface of the water, causing ripples and bubbles. "Chiron," Harry whispered. "Camp Half-Blood." Suddenly, an image began to form in the water and when Annabeth stood closer, she saw the faint outline of Chiron who was staring back at her, his mouth agape.

"Chiron!" Percy grinned, leaning forwards towards the lake.

"Percy? Annabeth?" It was quite comical to see Chiron's head shake as he looked between Percy and Annabeth.

"Harry needs our help defeating some monsters that are going to invade Hogwarts and we need some weapons." Annabeth told Chiron everything that they needed, Chiron nodding his agreement when she had finished.

"How…?"

"Just place them into the lake when the whirlpool arrives." Harry instructed.

"Is that Percy?" Rachel appeared next to Chiron, her hair frizzy and her eyes wild. "Percy!" she exclaimed.

"Hey Rachel." Annabeth was quite satisfied when he glanced at her, worriedly. "What's up?"

"Prophecy…" and then a far too familiar green mist snaked around her and she began to speak a prophecy Annabeth knew would completely ruin her trip to Hogwarts.

"A battle shall commence when a leader falls,

Two different heroes will guide them all.

One will accept their destined fate

Whilst the other fails and arrives too late.

When magic fails, blades will clash

An exposed heart will finally smash.

Demigods and Wizards will train and fight

And one will be lost to the endless light." She ended the prophecy by gasping and falling to her knees.

"I hate prophecies." Harry moaned, tightening his grip on his wand and shaking his head in discomfort. Annabeth full-heartedly agreed with him.

"We'll worry about it later," Percy said. "Chiron, had the whirlpool arrived yet?" Chiron appeared once more and nodded, saying that he'd put all of the weapons into the whirlpool. Percy thanked him and said goodbye to Rachel before Harry let the connection go and the weapons appeared on the surface to immediately sink.

"Look's like we're going diving." Harry murmured.

* * *

Sorry for the wait. I'll try and update earlier this time ;)


	4. Preperations

Most people find it hard to allow themselves to concentrate on listening to other's problems whilst keeping their own hidden. It's even harder to be completely interested in what the other person's saying and then offer your solution and opinion for most people will zone-out after ten minutes or so and let their minds wander on future activities, people they know or just their surroundings. All in all, 'Good-listeners' are hard to come by.

Jake was an extremely good listener, interested in whatever Nico said no matter how insignificant and sympathized with him when he spoke of his family. Of course Percy was just as understanding with those…delicate matters, he'd even lived them with him, but there was something about the way Jake's eyes lit up when Nico talked about his life or how he'd lean forwards slightly when he talked about his sister that made Nico feel comforted and…special. It was strange – nobody had ever made him feel like that before, not even Bianca. He'd never voice these feelings out loud for they were too personal and Nico was not ready to analyse his feelings just yet.

"And how are we supposed to train inexperienced Wizards to fight?" he scoffed. "I mean they haven't even _held_ a sword before – except for Harry and we know how _that_ turned out." Percy and Annabeth had informed Nico about the discussion with Chiron and the prophecy with blank expressions, suggesting that they were just as dumbfounded as he was.

They were currently sitting at an excluded table at the back of the library, pretending to read so the librarian doesn't have an excuse to order them out. Percy had his hands crosses on the table and was leaning back on his chair whilst Annabeth was sitting up straight, her shoulders tense and her eyebrows furrowed down. Nico's posture was similar to Annabeth's but instead of looking down at his hands like Annabeth was doing, he was scanning the library – for what he did not know.

"Yes." Annabeth sighed, obviously thinking the same as Nico: This was going to either be impossible or near impossible.

"We're not even teachers." He added, flexing and straightening his fingers in agitation and the need to _move_.

"Well we're just going to have to try, aren't we?" Annabeth sighed in exasperation. "Do our best and hope that they're early learners."

"We could teach them balancing first," Percy said, thoughtfully. "Then how to handle a sword or dagger and _then_ battle techniques."

"Sounds good." Annabeth said, smiling at him. "We should split the…class into thirds and each one of us teach a third. It'll be easier to improve individuals if the group is small." Nico didn't realize he was nodding until his neck began to ache and a sudden headache hit him. He also just realized that he hadn't eaten or drank since breakfast and it was almost ten. _Too late now_, he thought miserably.

"When?" he asked, rubbing his neck.

"Tomorrow." Percy mumbled, scratching the wood of the table with his pen.

"Better get some sleep then." He announced before standing up and walking out without waiting for their reply. He was exhausted and the prospect of teaching people, probably all of them older than him, was unnerving and Nico was dreading the whole thing. The portraits had not completely stopped with the taunts but most of them just turned their backs when he walked past of just glared at him. Nico ignored them; he was used to it. He didn't realize he'd reached the Gryffindor Portrait hole until the portrait, which the Wizards called 'The fat-lady', coughed irritably and demanded the password. In response, Nico murmured it and climbed through the portrait hole and into the Common room.

There were only a few students sitting in the Common room and one of them was Hermione. She had two books open in front of her and parchment was scattered across the table – some were scrunched up and others had blobs of ink splattered across them. Her hair was frizzier than usual, Nico wasn't sure if that was because of the fire or just stress, and she was viciously scribbling on two different pieces of parchment. Looking at her now, Nico could see the undeniable resemblance she had with Annabeth when she was studying architecture.

"You ok, Hermione?" he asked her, sitting on the chair opposite. She looked up at him, smiled and then continued with whatever she was doing.

"I'm fine. Just doing my essays."

"What subjects?" he quickly scanned the books – trying not to be obvious.

"Transfiguration and Ancient Runes." She said before pursing her lips and scratching something out.

"Can I help?" she looked up then, her left eyebrow raised in challenge.

"You…"

"Annabeth purchased a few books, when Harry left, about the subjects you guys study," he grabbed a piece of parchment and started to flick through her transfiguration book. "I borrowed some."

"Borrowed?" Hermione smirked at him suggestively. Nico placed his hand over his heart in mock-hurt.

"I'm offended, Miss Granger." They both began to laugh, ignoring the glares from the other students, before continuing with Hermione's homework.

* * *

They had spent about an hour and a half completing all of Hermione's homework and now Nico was dragging himself up the stairs to his dormitory, his eyelids feeling heavier and heavier and his legs were getting weaker. He had been moved to the third year dorm that day when it turned out there was much more room than Harry's. The rest of his dorm mates were already asleep when Nico flung himself down onto his bed. His bed was quite far away from the rest of the beds because it had been added just for him and would probably be removed once he left.

His dorm mates weren't that bad: Daniel was very tall with long, brown hair and he tended to keep to himself in the mornings and night, which Nico was perfectly fine with. Robert was a bit chattier, asking Nico about his day before casually mentioning his own troubles, flicking his blond fringe whenever it fell in front of his eyes. Ray was even friendlier – starting conversation with Nico whenever he saw him. He liked his dorm mates, it was much better then his cabin back at Camp-Half Blood, and he didn't mind Daniel's withdrawal, Robert's problems or Ray's consistency to start a conversation. However, he did enjoy solitude because he was used to it and he was quite happy to keep to himself as long as he had someone to talk to when he needed. _You do_, a voice in his head stated, _you have Jake_. Smiling, Nico drifted of into unconsciousness.

* * *

Nico awoke the next morning to Daniel turning on the shower and Ray loudly speaking to him from his bed. Moaning at the stiffness in his right leg, Nico sat up and began to change into the Gryffindor robes he had required a few days ago. The robes were slightly too long for him and his pants were a bit too small but otherwise, it fitted him quite nicely.

"He'ey, Nico!" Ray waved at him when he pulled back his curtains.

"Hi, Ray." He swiftly greeted him before stepping into the bathroom, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks when he realized he could see the faint outline of Daniel through the shower curtain. His roommates had informed him yesterday morning when he was waiting outside of the bathroom for Robert to come out of the shower that he should just go in.

This boldness both shocked Nico and unsettled him as he'd entered, keeping his eyes firmly on the floor. When he'd asked why they do this, they had simply said they were used to it and if they waited for each one of them to leave the shower every morning, they'd be late for classes. So Nico had unwillingly entered the bathroom and suffered through his awkwardness. He was brushing his teeth when Daniel had unashamedly walked out of the shower completely naked before casually reaching for a towel and wrapping it around his waist. In response, Nico spluttered and chocked – cheeks flaming.

"You alright Nico?" Daniel looked at him through the mirror, his eyebrows raised in concern.

"Yeah, just swallowed." He explained, lamely. Daniel gave him a quick nod, obviously uncomfortable with talking pointlessly for too long, and walked out of the bathroom, leaving Nico to curse himself. He wiped his mouth and left the bathroom, pausing only to say goodbye to the rest of his dorm mates before running down to the Common Room. Annabeth and Percy were waiting for him when he stumbled down the steps because of his fast haste. Percy was leaning on the back of and armchair, which Annabeth was sitting in, with his arms crossed across his chest.

"Finally." He said when he saw Nico. He marched over to him and flung an arm across his shoulders, which just made Nico blush even more, and guided him towards the Portrait hole. "Harry wants us to meet him outside of the Great Hall."

"Why?" he asked, shrugging away from Percy, who reached out and held Annabeth's hand instead.

"Training starts immediately." Annabeth said as she glared at a fourth year Slytherin when he tripped up a Hufflepuff girl.

"How many?" Nico groaned and Percy shrugged, obviously interested in something else.

"Ask Harry." He said, pointing to a pacing Harry just outside of the Great Hall. Both Hermione and Ron looked unnerved, Hermione was gripping her left arm with her right hand and Ron was running his hand through his hair, but Harry looked like was going to have a nervous breakdown.

"Thank goodness you're here." He exclaimed when they reached them. Without hesitation, Harry set off down a corridor, Hermione throwing him an apologetic smile when her and Ron walked after him. Nico rolled his eyes and followed, unease quickly settling itself in his stomach. The Wizards led them down a lot of corridors before the entered a door of one of the corridor. Inside was a large group of people; about eight of them were adults. Nico felt his stomach drop and his nervousness was painfull everyone stopped their conversation and turned towards them. Nico's nerves subsided slightly when he saw Jake smiling at him reassuringly. He was only briefly aware of Dumbledore's and Harry's silent communication before the latter awkwardly cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Percy, Annabeth and Nico will each teach ten of you in three smaller groups so individuals can receive extra help if needed." He paused to let that sink in and Nico could see several girls whispering to each other and giggling whilst a ginger girl he now knew as Ginny Weasley – Ron's sister. "They will begin with balancing both yourself and a weapon and then you'll be informed on your next lesson. So Percy will teach Remus, Tonks, Fred and George, Cormac, Ginny, Katie, Romilda, Ernie, Ron and myself." There was a bit of shuffling as those mentioned walked to one side of the room, Percy following them.

"Kingsley, Arthur, Charlie, Bill, Fleur, Angelina, Dean, Lavender, Susan and McGonogal will be taught by Annabeth." Harry told them.

"And Alicia, Colin, Dennis, Lee, Neville, Parvati, Luna, Dumbledore, Jake and Hermione will be taught by Nico." Nico tensed as those mentioned came to stand by him.

"Let's begin." Harry announced the group at large before returning to his group.


	5. Training

When someone mentions that they're nervous for a public appearance like a speech or teaching, a common suggestion to ease that discomfort would be to imagine that everyone was naked. Apparently, the thought would be so amusing that the person's nerves would recede slightly. Nico would full-heatedly disagree with this tactic. Imagining his ten Wizards naked would not only be embarrassing for him, but scarring as well. Even the thought of attempting to imagine Professor Dumbledore naked was enough to make Nico shudder. At first, he just stood there, unable to speak as ten eager eyes looked up at him for wisdom and instruction. Fortunately, Hermione was at hand to offer her services.

"Should we receive weapons?" she asked, smiling at him and tilting her head to the side to indicate that both Annabeth and Percy had told their third to retrieve swords from the weapons stack at the other side of the room.

"Yes." He said quickly. "But make sure you feel comfortable with the weapon you choose. If it feels too heavy or too light, choose another one." He instructed before adding: "You can also choose a dagger if a sword doesn't feel right." Jake and Hermione nodded at him and led the rest of the third to choose weapons, leaving Nico to exhale loudly.

His heart was beating a marathon and his hands were calmly, which he wiped quickly on his trousers. Nico placed his hand over his Stygian Iron Sword, which he had taken with him before he fled from the dormitory, and raised it – the light from the room reflecting on the metal. He decided that all he had to do was train whilst commentating what he was doing and why – no need to get worked up about it. When the group came back holding weapons, Nico stepped forward and chucked his sword from one hand to the other and back again, demonstrating the basics of balancing.

"By easily swapping hands, you are able to get used to your sword's weight and therefore, you are able to balance it nicely." He continued to swap hands, retaining a smile when the rest of the group copied him (Dumbledore was extremely funny). "Next you should concentrate on your leg movement." He announced, shifting positions so his right leg was in front of his left before swaying to the side from foot to foot. "In battle, your leg movement is just as important as your arms." He added, ignoring the fact he probably looked stupid and indulging himself into his training.

He then swung his sword downwards, swapped hands and did the same with his left as if he was striking a monster's sides. Looking up, he saw the rest of the group mimicking his movements once again but this time, he couldn't hide his smile when he realized they were all perfecting the movements as if they'd been doing it their whole lives. Even little Luna Lovegood was demonstrating a professional stance in her leg movement. He practiced both arm movements and leg movements for 20 minutes before he allowed them all to rest, satisfied that they all had mastered the basics.

"Good Job, _Professor Di Angelo_." Jake grinned at him, leaning forward in a mock-bow. Nico smiled back before sitting down on the floor, Jake and Hermione following suit.

"Joking aside, I think you did pretty well considering you're an inexperienced trainer." Hermione declared as she grinned when a smirking Percy put Ron onto the ground. Ron jumped up and mumbled something under his breath that Nico couldn't hear but brought out a number of laughs from Percy's group. "I'm going to see what Professor Dumbledore wants." She said suddenly, jumping up and hurrying towards a beaming professor.

"What else are you planning?" Jake asked, turning towards him. Nico explained that he intended to tell everyone to get into pairs and then teach them some moves when in combat. "Do you want to be my partner?" Nico's eyes widened quite comically before he realised what Jake was actually asking.

"Yeah, sure." He murmured, his cheeks burning and he hoped beyond hope that Jake didn't notice. He did, of course.

"Are you…"

"Should we continue?" Professor Dumbledore interrupted Jake, to Nico's gratitude. Scrambling to his feet, Nico told his third about getting into pairs, whilst avoiding Jake's questioning look. Luna and Neville stood together, the Creevey brothers, Alicia and Jordan and Parvati and Hermione, whilst Dumbledore stood to the side – informing them that the training would be the death of him.

"Bring your sword across your body – Hermione and Parvati can practice their stabbing motions with their daggers – and swish it forward to clash with your neighbours." When his sword smashed against Jake's, the vibrations were like volcanoes exploding in Nico's ears. _When magic_ _fails, blades with clash_ rang in his head and made him disorientated as he swayed on the spot. He felt arms rap around him as he fell, hyperventilating in a pre-panic attack.

"Nico!" Jake gasped in his ear and when his attempts of lifting Nico to his feet failed, he lowered himself onto the floor and balanced Nico into a sitting position. "Are you ok?" Nico's bad temper returned and he wanted to snap: "No, I'm perfectly fine! I just love throwing myself onto the ground and gasping because it helps me when I go into battle. Monsters a very confused when their opponent suddenly flings themselves to the floor and starts to have a fit!" but he kept quiet, his rasped breath hurting his chest. Getting himself under control, Nico pushed upwards and stood up with Jake's help. He looked at the rest of the group but no one seemed to notice his little fit, not even Dumbledore. It didn't seem he had been on the floor for long.

"Nico, what's wrong?" Jake commanded as he gripped his shoulders painfully and carefully shook him.

"When magic fails, blades will clash." He gasped out.

"Is that part of the prophecy?" Jake asked, finally letting Nico go.

"Yes."

"Well, if it was part of a prophecy, shouldn't you expect it to come true?" Nico blinked at him in sudden confusion, Jake's shinning blue eyes leaving him incapable of forming words, before smiling.

"Sometimes it's nice to pretend it's not true." Understanding crossed Jakes face before he swung his sword towards Nico, Nico rising his own just in time to block the blow. Grinning, Nico and Jake practiced sword fighting – the prophecy forgotten. For now.

* * *

Annabeth's group were improving drastically and she wondered how she thought training the Wizards would be a hopeless case. They moved with ease and held their weapons as if they were born to do it and Annabeth wondered if Witches and Wizards were actually born warriors like she was. It would certainly explain their skill. Dumbledore had announced to the group as a whole that they should pack up and go to dinner – their next meeting would be next Thursday. She was happy with their first session, as she was confident that the Wizards would be trained well enough when the monsters attack Hogwarts.

"How was your group?" Percy asked her as they made their way towards the Great Hall – Harry, Ron and Hermione in front of them and Jake and Nico just behind.

"Unbelievably good." She admitted.

"Mine too." He confirmed, grinning at her and holding her hand. "Strange isn't it?" They were just about to enter the Great Hall when they literally walked in to a sudden static Harry, Hermione and Ron.

"What the…"

"…Suck up. What next, muggles attending our classes? Werewolves acting unashamedly in society? Mudbloods…"

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy!" Ron growled, raising his wand and pointing it at Draco Malfoy's face.

"Easy, Weasel. You've got bite like that beast, Lupin…" It was Harry's turn to command Draco's silence with a shout of rage. Draco simply laughed, two taller and broader boys stood behind him and laughed stupidly with him. "Well, I can't really blame you for having a Mudblood mother, Potter…Argg!"

Malfoy screamed as Harry sprang at him and knocked him to the floor. As if by reflex, Ron blocked one of the bodyguard's hexes and flung his fist towards his nose; he grinned when he heard it brake. Hermione was screaming insults at them all, telling them that they were childish brats and should stop it at once or somebody was going to get injured, or worse: expelled. Annabeth didn't realise she was watching the confrontation in fascination until Percy tried to drag her to one side. She glanced up at him and saw his eyes widen and his mouth fall open as if he was about to yell something to her – his hand tightened painfully on her hand. The last thing Annabeth saw before a stray curse hit her at the side of her head was Percy reaching for her. Then everything went black.


	6. Torment

WARNING: this contains mild torture. That makes it sound worse then it actually is. It's just a bit darker than anything else I've done.

* * *

Annabeth was trapped in her own mind, which was cruelly ironic considering that she was the daughter of Athena. As soon as she thought she'd finally awakened, she would realize that she was dreaming of reality and would immediately slip back into dreams and blurriness. It was, to say the least, an endless torment.

She was sprinting down a long corridor, her knife gripped in her left hand, thinking if her Kindergarten teacher could see her now with the knife pointed outwards, she'd have a heart attack. "_Annabeth_." A voice whispered from the darkness behind her, chuckling when she tripped and only just rolled away when she plummeted towards her vertical knife. "_You can't run forever_." To express its point, Annabeth felt herself slow down dramatically like she was running through quicksand and no matter how hard she forced her muscles to pursue forwards, her legs became heavier and her pace slowed even more until she was practically walking. Suddenly, she found herself regain speed but she'd only let a grin of triumph cross her face before she realised she was making no progress down the corridor. It was like in movies when the main character was trapped in a dream and vision; she was running as fast as she could but the corridor just got longer every time she reached the end.

That was when her vision shifted and she found herself land in snow, her subconscious mind screaming the answer at her: _It's a dream! Wake Up!_ Before it was silenced and Annabeth believed her dreams once more. Obviously she knew that snow was freeing but this snow was _unbelievably_ freezing to the extent that she felt like she was on fire instead of cold. In a panic, Annabeth jumped up with a scream before frantically wiping snow of her body.

When she had finally come to her senses and stopped jumping up and down like a scared little child, Annabeth looked around at her landscape to feel her heart drop. There was nothing but snow in all directions; even the sky was the same colour as the snow. She felt isolation, loneliness, worthlessness and all of the sickening emotions she hadn't felt since she'd found Thalia and Luke all of those years ago when she'd been living with her father crash into her like she was being hit by a truck. She even doubled over like she had physically been hit. Gagging, Annabeth fell to the frozen ground as tears fell from her eyes.

"Annabeth." She looked up and squinted through her tears to see a tall figure standing still in the distance. "Give up." It ordered, it's skeleton hand pointing towards her. "Or suffer more misery." His glowing red eyes shot painful recognition in her damaged brain before her eyes shot open in anger and resentment.

"Voldermort!" she screeched before she felt the pulling sensation again and her vision faded to immediately be replaced with another vision but this one was a memory. A bad memory. She saw Thalia stand-alone as the monsters advance and she heard her own scream from the distance, begging Luke to go back and reaching out for Thalia to follow them. Thalia raised her sword and brought it down on the first row of monsters before being taken down herself. Annabeth cried out for Thalia as she prayed to her father with her last breath. "_She died for you_." Voldemort appeared next to Thalia as she slowly began to turn into her old tree. "_And you never repaid her_."

"I'm sorry!" she chocked, her mouth agape as her sobs became too violent to even make noise. Voldemort smiled at her, which made Annabeth shiver uncontrollably. She felt herself being torn apart like all of her old battle wounds were being opened once more and she knew she had to escape before her mind shut down. With a great effort she screamed: "It's just a dream!" before the familiar tug took her and placed her into Luke's old home. She grabbed at her head and shook it, roughly.

"Stop it!

"You could've saved me." Luke spat at her but she didn't look up into that dead face that was hovering above her. "You just sat there and let me kill myself." He accused before grabbing her hair and making her look at him. His eyes were blood red. "It's all your fault."

"Stop it!" she begged and this time, she didn't even flinch when Luke was replaced with Voldemort by a green mist.

"Have you had enough?" he whispered in that awful, forced calm.

"What will happen if I have?" she asked.

"Then you join me." He said it so casually he could have been saying: "What time is the news on?"

"Never." She whispered to him and even though it was not a battle cry or declaration of bravery, her shattered promise was even more powerful and meaningful. It was like she had told him that he could do anything to her and she could beg him for release, but she would never give in.

* * *

"How long has she been unconscious?" Dumbledore asked Percy as he laid his hand gently on top of Annabeth's head. Percy watched with an empty expression as Dumbledore recoiled from Annabeth's boiling head. "Poppy?"

"Three hours." The nurse hurried towards Annabeth's bed and placed new towels at the bottom. "No progress."

"And what is the diagnosis?" The nurse paused and looked Dumbledore in the eye.

"I don't know. I haven't seen anything like this before, Professor. There's something much more serious going on here then silly School-boy curses." Dumbledore nodded like the nurse had just confirmed his suspicions.

"Dark magic is at play here." Percy watched as the nurse flinched, along with Hermione and Ron. Harry was staring straight at him with a hopeless expression on his face, begging him to speak to him. Percy, however, could not be bothered with guilt-ridden people at the moment and Harry's helpless pleas of forgiveness could wait as far as he was concerned. Nico was standing in the shadows like he used to do, making Percy spare just a smidge of emotion for someone else beside Annabeth. Nico had been so happy since they arrived at Hogwarts and to see Nico melt into his old solitude was depressing. He raised his head for the first time in three hours and met Nico's eyes from across the room. He raised his eyebrows and approached Percy before crouching down so Percy could whisper into his ear.

"Go find Jake." He instructed, his voice cracking.

"Why?" he inquired.

"You're draining the light and warmth out of the room with your brooding." Nico chuckled quietly, patted him on the shoulder and left the room.

"Percy…" Percy cut Harry off with a wave of his hand.  
"It doesn't matter, Harry. You heard what Dumbledore said, Dark Magic is taking place here and I bet that leads to Voldemort." He ignored Ron's groan at the mention of Voldemort. "We can't break apart now that Annabeth's in danger."

"Percy's right." Hermione said, her voice small and full of emotion. "We need to stay united." Harry still looked unconvinced of Percy's forgiveness but a lot of tension had visibly been taken off his shoulders.

"What do we do now?"

"You must continue with the training." Dumbledore suddenly spoke, making Ron jump slightly and yelp. "Poppy has instructed me of the symptoms and I believe that Annabeth's cure won't take that long to retrieve." Percy felt the tight knot in his stomach and chest release all of a sudden and he finally could breath in without feeling pain. "It will take time to brew the potion, maybe three weeks." His heart bashed against his rib cage at the thought of Annabeth being unconscious for three weeks but he had to keep reminding himself that she was going to be ok. She was not going to die. "Now I think it would be wise to go down into the Great Hall and have something to eat."  
"I…"

"I'm sorry, Mr Jackson, but it is not an option. You starving yourself will not help Miss Chase."

"But can't I…?"  
"Stay here with her and eat? No. I need to do some tests on her to make sure she's not allergic to any of the ingredients I will need to brew the potion." Dumbledore smiled at him when his face fell. "It's for the best." Percy nodded in resignation before gloomily following the Wizards out of the Hospital Wing.

* * *

"Stopitstopitpleasestopit!" Annabeth's words had been blending into each other for the past half-an-hour. Or was it hours? Days? Weeks? Months? She didn't know. All she comprehended was the new dream, illusion or tampered memory that Voldemort assaulted her with. He'd even twisted her best memory, her first kiss with Percy, into a torment. He had broken away from her and looked into her eyes, with pure fear plastered on his face.

"Annabeth?" he had whispered. She had looked at him confusingly before he suddenly let go of her and she felt the poisonous water fill her lungs. "Where are you?" he yelled, swirling around as he tried to find her. She tried her best to reach out for him but her limbs were immobile and her lungs felt like they were alight. "Annabeth! Don't leave me!" he sobbed and Annabeth felt her heart crack for she had never seen Percy break like this, not even at his darkest of times. "Annabeth!"

"_You're doing this to him_." Voldemort's voice whispered to her, making the water turn murky.

"Annabeth! Come back to me!" She tried to kick, swallow, talk_, anything_ but she just floated there, unable to move.

"_You can stop his suffering as well as your own_." His voice was infecting her mind, tugging at it until she screamed a soundless scream.

"I need you!" Percy clutched at his heart and began to shake, vigorously.

"_Join me_."

"ANNABETH!" Annabeth suddenly sprang upwards from the hospital bed, chocking on imaginary water whilst Voldemort's cackle echoed around her head.

* * *

Well wasn't that pleasant? If you're confused, the next few chapters will explain what on earth this chapter is on about ;) Anyway, I feel really bad for leaving this for so long but House of Hades was too tempting to just ignore :) I'll defiantly try and post more frequently.

Hope you enjoyed it, nonetheless, and feel free to review -x-


	7. Halloween Party

The day Annabeth had been knocked unconscious had been extremely painful for most of them. Harry was upset because he liked Annabeth and felt extremely guilty for what happened, even though it wasn't really his fault, and Harry's misery had caused Hermione's and Ron's. It was like an emotional chain-reaction, Hermione thought, hurt one and the rest feel their pain. It was quite an unsettling thought because Hermione could see quite clearly how Voldemort, or any enemy, could use his or her own loyalty (Something she had supported with great enthusiasm in the past) against them. She felt like she couldn't win; with loyalty they risk endangering all those who cared about them but without loyalty they were nothing. Oh how cruel being on the good side was. Even though Annabeth had made a shocking recovery and everybody was delighted, Hermione couldn't push the feeling away that the battle had only just begun.

"You alright Hermione?" Ron asked her as he shuffled a whole chocolate frog into his mouth without any sign of discomfort. She rolled her eyes at his ridiculous habits before glancing nervously at Annabeth, who hadn't let go of Percy's hand since last week when she had woken up. Annabeth, Percy and Harry were all talking and laughing about the time when Harry visited America on an 'exchange' about three years ago as if it had only just happened. Hermione felt quite amazed that they could remain close friends despite the fact that they hadn't seen each other for that long and she hoped that she could keep that sort of relationship with Ron and Harry when they left Hogwarts. Look at me, she thought, thinking about silly things like that when Voldemort's army marches on Hogwarts at any moment. The thought left chills down her back and she involuntarily shivered. "Cold?" Ron asked her, obviously trying to get her to talk to him. She shook her head to clear it before giving him her best-fake smile.

"A bit." She let her eyes wander the Common Room once before returning to look at Ron. "How are you doing?" Rom shrugged, grumpily.

"S'ok." Hermione smiled knowingly at him, which made him scowl at her. He hated it when she gave him a superior, knowing look as if she held all of the answers in the Universe.

"You're missing Harry." It wasn't a question because she was confident that she was right. She missed him too.

"What do you mean?" he asked her. "He's right over there."

"You miss his attention." She explained. "He's been concentrating on the Demigods and Voldemort," she paused to let him have a heat-attack. "And you two haven't had much time to yourselves." She finished, glancing over and Harry just as he burst into laughter. She wondered if she was jealous but she didn't feel any resentment towards the Demigods; she felt quite happy for Harry. She did, however, miss her close friend who only left her side for different classes or when she rushed off to the library.

"I guess I do." Ron mumbled, picking at the Gryffindor rug that he was sitting on.

"But we need to concentrate on more important matters." She suddenly said loudly, bringing Harry, Annabeth and Percy out of their conversation and to include themselves with hers and Ron's.

"Ah, come on Annabeth," Percy grinned at her. "We're celebrating!" he hugged Annabeth to empathize his point, as if it wasn't obvious.

"For a whole week?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Percy shrugged.

"It's important."

"We need to organize our plans." She stated as she struggled to subside her grin at the bored faces of her comrades. "The Halloween party is tomorrow and we haven't decided what we're going to wear." Both Harry and Ron cheered with enthusiasm at the same time, making them both laugh at each other. Hermione grinned at them before turning her attention towards the Demigods. "Our Halloween parties are amazing." She said matter-of-fact.

"I bet they are." Percy smiled at her. "How about we change identities?" he suggested. When the rest of the group looked blankly at him, Hermione stepped in.

"He means go as each other."

"I know your scary, Percy. There's no need to point it out anymore." Percy threw a pillow at Harry who deflected it easily with his hand.

"We don't need to go as each other, identically." Annabeth pitched in. "We could go as something that relates to someone."

"Like I could dress up as a spider because Ron is terrified of spiders." Both Annabeth and Ron shivered.

"I don't think spiders is a good idea." She mumbled.

"How about we go as the Gods?" Hermione suggested before Harry or Percy made a sarcastic comment. Percy and Annabeth seemed to reflect on this idea before shrugging.  
"Sure." Annabeth agreed.

"Why not?" Percy said. "It'll be fun to see Harry in Aphrodite's dress." Percy ran upstairs to his dormitory as Harry chased after him, Ron at his heels. Hermione looked over at Annabeth before they both rolled their eyes as if to say: _Boys._

"Make your hair a bit darker." Annabeth advised her as Hermione tried to turn her hair into the same shade as Athena's. She was dressed in a full-length chiton and she held her shield, bearing the head of a gorgon in the centre and snakes around the edge, in her right hand and a long staff in her left. Annabeth had advised her to keep an owl close by to signify the Goddess' sacred animal and so Hedwig was perched on the bedpost, observing her attempts to make her hair vaguely similar to Athena's.

"Who or what are you going as?" she asked Annabeh as she pinned her hair into a bun and placed a gold headband around her head.

"I was thinking of going as you." She announced casually, causing Hermione to gape at her by the reflection in the mirror. "If your ok with that, of course." She added hesitantly, obviously misinterpreting Hermione's shocked expression. Nobody had ever wanted to be like Hermione before, apart from her high grades. Even Harry and Ron adored her for her help with their homework or her quick-thinking in dangerous situations and let's face it, she thought, we've experienced a lot of them. There were times when Hermione doubted Harry's and Ron's intentions on being her friend in the first place when she felt lonely, usually when she was left to correct their homework whilst they played Quidditch or exploding snap. She hated herself for those thoughts but she couldn't help it. It wouldn't be the first time somebody pretended to her friend just for her intelligent contribute to their daily lives.

"You want to go as me?" she asked, unbelievably. Annabeth's head was tilted to the side with a quizzical look on her face, which Hermione identified immediately as analysing. Annabeth raised her right shoulder up and smiled up at Hermione as a small shrug.

"Why not?" she asked. Hermione could come up with a lot of answers like: I'm not interesting but she let the topic drop, suddenly aware of the time. Grinning, Hermione dashed over to her trunk and removed a sample of Polyjuice potion that she kept just in case she needed it, whilst removing a strand of her hair. She then placed the hair into the potion and gave it to Annabeth, who looked at it like it was a venomous snake.

"This will change your appearance so that you look like me." She explained. "It'll only last for an hour or so but by then, everyone will be having too much fun to take notice." Annabeth eyed the potion with a doubtful expression on her face. "You should change into my clothes before you take it." She added, thoughtfully as she grabbed an armful of her school robes and offered them to Annabeth. She accepted them with a smile before changing into the clothes, revealing what must have been one of her battle scars on her right shoulder. Hermione didn't study it for she turned her head and gave Annabeth some privacy.

"Should I take it now?" she asked once she had changed. The clothes were too short and too small for Annabeth but not largely.

"Yes." She replied, letting her mind wander so she was pondering on whether or not the Halloween party would allow Ron and Harry to communicate more like she was hoping. She was also worried about how the students would treat the Demigods when they arrive; will they be good hosts or will they let their opinions be known? She knew a lot of people who hated the idea of 'outsiders' in the school, and, funnily, the majority weren't Slytherins. In fact, she had heard that quite a lot of the Slytherins found Demigods being the school exciting and a good thing, especially Nico. Hermione's anxiety led her heart to beat faster and queasiness settling on her stomach. She didn't notice when Annabeth had taken the potion and 'become' her until she was in front on her, waving her hand in front of her face.

"Ready to go?" she asked, twirling Hermione's wand through her fingers, making Hermione wonder when she had begun to trust Annabeth so much to let her hold her wand, the only weapon she had? It was both terrifying and exhilarating. Hermione returned Annabeth's excited grin before bouncing down the stairs to the Common room, her shield held tightly in her hand and Hedwig perching herself onto Hermione's shoulder.

* * *

"Come on mate!" Ron shouted into the bathroom, tugging at his costume with a frown on his face. He had been convinced by Percy to go to the Halloween Party as Dionysus and Harry had suggested the headband made of grape vines. Ron was deeply regretting his decision to 'give it a go' as Percy and Harry has said and he was wondering if they had planned to make him look ridiculous. Probably, he thought grumpily. What Hermione had said yesterday had hit a nerve he didn't even know he had. When had be become so jealous of Percy Jackson? It wasn't like Harry had completely abandoned him and he hadn't seen Percy for about four years so why was it that every time Harry turned down his offer to play Quidditch, chess, exploding snap or even homework to be with Percy did it feel like Harry had punched him in the stomach? Why did he feel neglected like an over-obsessed girl in a relationship? It was pathetic yet he couldn't stop it. He knew Hermione's plan to make them spend more time together and he was grateful but it did remind him of how low he'd reached.

"Yeah come on, the food will have all gone by the time you've finished doing your hair!" Percy chuckled and Ron had to suppress the glare he wanted to throw his way. It hurt even more when Harry came into the room, laughing with Percy.

"You're looking extremely handsome today." Harry told Percy, who threw a pillow at him. Percy had decided to go as Harry, surprise surprise, glasses, scar and all. Hermione had refused to offer him polyjuice potion so Harry had to perform charms on Percy to change the colour of his hair and eyes. The scar was drawn on with felt-tip.

"Where's Nico?" he asked, hoping to change the subject. The Hades kid had moved out of their dorm after just one day and Ron had suddenly found himself missing the creepy guy. At least with him in the dorm he could ignore Percy and Harry's bromance. Neville, Dean and Seamus tended to only come into the dorm at night, thinking that Percy and Harry needed time to catch-up and organise the battle lessons.

"With Jake, probably." Percy said, straightening his glasses. "Jake is trying to convince him to go as Hades. I've bet him $20 that he can't get Nico di Angelo to even dress up, never mind go as his father."

"You should give him an extra $10 if he gets him to go as Hades." Harry suggests as he grabs his bow and arrows from his bed. Percy simply shrugs before motioning towards the door.

"Should we go?" he asks. Harry nods and follows Percy out, leaving Ron to trail behind like always. Hermione and Annabeth are already waiting for them when the reach he Common Room and Ron suddenly found himself awed struck as he gazed upon Hermione. She was beautiful anyway but wearing that armour she looked powerful and mesmerising, like she could cut you down whilst looking gorgeous. He cleared his throat and hoped that his flushed cheeks would be undetectable.

"Finally." Annabeth sighed as she grabbed Percy's arm and dragged him out of the Common Room. Ron awkwardly walked towards Hermione before nervously running his hand through his hair, succeeding in making a few grapes fall to the floor.

"You look nice." He murmured, slowly walking after Harry, Percy and Annabeth. Hermione walked at his side as they made their way towards the Great Hall.

"Thank you." She said, smiling at those they walked past. Hermione's hair was falling out of her bun slightly but it just made her look more elegant as if she didn't even have to try to look perfect. What am I doing, he thought, with thoughts like that; I'll end up falling for her. "So are you going to talk to Harry?" she asked, knowingly. Just concentrate on her know-it-all trait.

"Of course." He said, grumpily.

"For more than five minutes?" she asked. Ron just signed, hardly in the mood to discuss his friendship with Harry with a girl who looked like a Goddess herself. He suddenly caught sight of Jake and Nico; Jake looking especially smug and Nico looking just as grumpy as him. It took him a few seconds to comprehend the reason behind his petulant expression: He was dressed as his father. Percy owes some money, and that thought immediately cheered Ron up.

"Hey Jake, Nico!" he called. They both turned towards him, Jake smiling and Nico blushing furiously. "Are you not dressing up, Jake?" he asked as he looked at Jake's Ravenclaw uniform.

"I'm going to charm my robes so they change houses." And sure enough, his robes slowly faded from Ravenclaw to Gryffindor. He had to admit, it was pretty cool. "You both look great, by the way." He said as the four of them made their way to the Great Hall, which was decorated with the usual floating pumpkins and spider webs. The Great Hall was spectacular, as usual, with its enchanted flooring that looked like mist, beverages that looked like blood and walls that were decorated with more pumpkins and spider webs with a few skeletons here and there. However, instead of a feast, it had been turned into a sort of ball, were everybody danced in the middle of the room where the lighting was much more bright and the haunting music bounced of the walls. Everybody looked hyper and thrilled, obviously not bothered with the removal of the feast like he was.

"Come on, Nico." Jake grinned at Nico and dragged him towards Percy, Harry and Annabeth at the other side of the room, intending to get his money from the bet.

"There's a buffet over there." Hermione shouted over the music as she pointed to the floating food next to the others. He sent her a thankful smile before running towards the food with an eager expression on his face and intending to gather up all the food he liked, which was a lot. His immediate choice was the chicken, then the chips and then the dessert and only ten minutes into arriving, he had already stuffed himself full until he was ready to burst. He saw Jake trying and failing to get Nico to dance, Percy and Annabeth whispering close together and Harry and Hermione laughing when he eventually turned around to the party. They all looked so engrossed in what they were doing, apart from Nico who looked ill, that he couldn't find it in himself to interrupt any of them.

"Hello, Ron." Lavender gently patted him on the arm and smiled up at him. She was wearing a long, red dress with matching lipstick and eye shadow with high heels that couldn't have been comfortable. Her hair hang down past her shoulders but her diamond studded ear-rings still managed to be on display. She was pretty, there was no denying that.

"How you doing, Lavender?" he asked, leaning against the wall behind him. She stood in front of him, blocking his view of Hermione.

"I'm doing fine." She giggled, patting him on the arm again. Lavender was quite interesting, Ron decided after half an hour of talking with her. They did have different interests but her interests were…well interesting. Even the way she moved was different to what he was used to that he found even the flick of her hair appealing. So when she leaned closer to him and hesitantly pressed her lips to his, he didn't resist. She even smelled different. He'd never actually kissed a girl before and the only details he had was Harry's description of 'wet'.

Lavender's lips weren't wet exactly, but they were soft and Ron found himself melting as he forgot all about his worries and Harry and even for a moment Hermione. But she managed to climb herself back into his mind and he found himself pushing Lavender away, only to gasp for air so it looked like lack of oxygen had drove him to stop. Lavender was panting slightly and her cheeks were red, making Ron wonder how red his were. She was smiling at him and her eyes were bright. He smiled back at her, only to let his face fall when he realised Hermione had just witnessed the whole thing and she was now looking at him with betrayal written across her face.

* * *

Nico felt humiliated as Jake grabbed his arms and tried to make him dance with him. Not only was he dressed like his father, in a long black cloak with skulls to accessorise, but also he was being forced to dance and float around in public. Growling to himself, he allowed Jake to spin them both around in circles as he tried to ignore the increasing blush forming on his cheeks. If it were anybody else, he'd have sneered at them and ordered them to leave him alone, which usually was enough to get people to leave. Everybody except for Jake it would seem.

"I don't want to dance." He complained again.

"I do." Jake said, narrowly avoiding colliding with another group of students.

"Why don't you dance with somebody else then?" he asked, glaring at those who 'gave-him-the-evils'.

"I don't want to." he replied, unfazed by Nico's attempts of getting Jake away from him.

"You can't have everything."

"Exactly." Nico grunted as Jake grinned at him. "Tell you what," he suddenly stopped, making Nico's head spin. "Why don't we go outside and breath for a bit?" He looked at him, confused. "You look like your going to faint." He grinned at him before guiding them both out of the Great Hall, to Nico's gratitude. There was no denying the relief as he left the hundreds of voices and bodies behind and the cold breeze hit his face. It was refreshing, like plunging your face into freezing cold water in the mornings and Nico suddenly found his senses more alert as if they'd been trapped in the claustrophobic Hall. His eyes were more focussed, he could finally hear and his instincts were finally free, making Nico feel alighted.

"Better?" Jake asked him, the moon's light touching his face and making his features stand out. Nico's breath caught in his chest as he felt all of his suppressed feelings burst out of him, his instincts taking over. The realisation of his feelings made him breathless as he found it hard to breathe, Jake simply standing there looking beautiful. That was when he acted before thinking, something he had promised himself he would never do since his powers got out of control when he had found out about Bianca's death. He leant up and kissed Jake. No warning, no hesitation just acting. But of course, his mind caught up and Nico found himself staring at Jake, his eyes wide.

"I'm so sorry." He then did what his over-ride instincts screamed at him to do. He ran away without looking back.

* * *

So yeah, Nico is gay in my fic ;) If you don't like that, well sorry. Anyway, kind of rushed (again :L) but I've got the weekend to do more chapters :) Feel free to review -x-


	8. Halloween Party: Extract

Just a short chapter that I wanted to add to the Halloween Party but forgot and I didn't want to include it in the next chapter because I want to push the story along a bit :) Suggested by NunaShipper394 -x-

* * *

Annabeth loved how the contrast of colours the lights were making on the floor but she did find all of the decorations quite disorientating for she didn't know which were solids, spells or enchantments. It was spectacular, however, and she could ignore the fact she wanted to step over the fake mist that lapped at her feet. She looked up at the ceiling to see the night sky (Another enchantment that made her momentarily dizzy and confused) and smiled at how clear it looked so she could see the stars clearly. She'd read in some romance books, she only read them for educational purposes of course, that it was terribly romantic to sleep under the stars with your beloved, especially on a clear night and preferably near water like the sea or lake. Her mind was already filling up with scenarios of her and Percy lying next the lake outside just under the Greak Oak and looking up at the sky as Percy pretends he knows all of their names when Percy himself taps her on the shoulder. He looks like Percy, which means the charms must have warn off.

"I'm going to get a drink, do you want one?" he asked loudly, the pounding music obviously annoying to him just like it was for her.

"Yes please." She shouted back before adding; "None alcoholic!" she had seen a few drunk students, swaying about and singing at the top of their voices. She had seen some marching over to someone and smack them around the face for just looking at them in wrong the way and she had seen others rock in the corner, weeping for no apparent reason. Annabeth didn't really want to know what kind of drunk she was because she was sure she would embarrass herself. Percy nodded as if he was having the same thoughts as her before he worked his way towards the drinks, picking up a Gryffindor second year and moving her out of the way as he did so. Smiling, Annabeth turned around to see Jake and Nico leave the Great Hall, Nico looking confused and Jake excited. Annabeth scratched her right shoulder and glanced around the hall. Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonogal were laughing together at the teacher's table, McGonogal dressed in black and Dumbledore was dressed in what must have been a pumpkin suit. Why, she did not know. Snape was sitting at Dumbledore's right and was glaring at the students and sneering at them, just like normal. He wasn't dressed up but Hagrid was. Hagrid was dressed in a skeleton's costume and she had heard him announce to Harry, Ron and Hermione:

"Got it from one of those Muggle shops. Came cheap as'well. But you'know, they did look mighty confused when I gave'em a Knut." Harry and Ron and snorted whilst Hermione had smiled and shook her head. Speaking of Hermione, Annabeth thought in dismay as Hermione shoved past her, tears streaming down her face. Her hair had come lose and she had obviously left her shield and staff behind because she wasn't carrying them. Hedwig was flying after her, hooting in annoyance. Annabeth was about to follow her out but a voice suddenly spoke behind her.

"Hermione it's you I love! It's never been anybody else." Before Annabeth could turn around and tell the person that she was under polyjuice potion, she was grabbed gently by the arms and spun around. Before she could complain, somebody kissed her with enough passion to but Aphrodite to shame. She tried to push the person away but she was too shocked to move and her brain was slow in reacting due to the temperature in the room and the loud music. Then, quite suddenly, the weight was taken off her and she could finally breathe. She looked up to see Percy gripping Ron's arm and scowling at him.

"Why…?"

"I'm so sorry Annabeth!" Ron blushed furiously. "I forgot you were under the polyjuice potion." He shrugged out of Percy's grip and sprinted from the hall, Lavender Brown running after him and calling his name.

"Well that was eventful." Percy smirked at her but Annabeth just tuck out her tongue. She then saw Nico run past outside the Great Hall's doors, looking as if he was going to throw up. _It looks like Hermione and Ron aren't the only ones having relationship issues_, Annabeth thought as Percy bowed to her and offered her his hand for that dance.


	9. Silence War

_I used to think one day we'd tell the story of us,_

_How we met and the sparks flew instantly,_

_People would say, "They're the lucky ones."_

Drowning in his own self-pity was not how Nico imagined his trip to Hogwarts to be like. Admittedly, he hadn't really imagined what a Wizarding School would be like before he came not having met any Witches or Wizards before but he could confidently say he didn't imagine it to be like _this_. He knew it was his own fault that he felt small and depressed but that just made him feel pathetic and ultimately, more upset and grumpy. Curling against his pillow, Nico buried his face into the fabric and tried to squish out all of his thoughts and self-loathing he currently felt. One part of his was screaming how stupid he was for both kissing Jake and moping about like he was now, _you're the Son of_ _Hades for Gods sake!_ But another part of him was urging him to go look for Jake and apologize;_ it'll make you feel better_. That part of him was beginning to win as he slowly lifted his head off his pillow and sat up, his hair as messy as Harry's and his eyes dropped down as if he'd just woken up. _He's ignoring you,_ a voice strangely similar to his father's said in a freezing, calm voice, _he's_ _ignoring you and he's mad_.

It was true. The first two weeks after the little incident, Nico had practically locked himself in his dorm room and refused to come out even for meals. Jake had tried to talk to him but because Nico wouldn't come out of the Gryffindor Common Room and he had instructed Percy not to let him in, Jake had turned from concerned to annoyed. Percy had tuned into an owl – sending messages to Nico from Jake for the past five weeks and Nico could tell from Jake's messages that he was currently infuriated and would be ignoring Nico for now on. It had turned into a silence battle between the two and Nico was hating every minute of it, yet still refused to talk to Jake.

"You need to get out." Percy scowled at him from beside his bed after refusing to leave when Nico had yelled at him to get out. "You're much paler than you usual, ghostly self and that's worrying." Nico rolled his eyes at Percy before sitting up and wincing at the movement, not having moved at all for 8 hours.

"There's nowhere to go." And it was true. The Demigod-Wizard training had been postponed ever since Annabeth awoke from her coma over five weeks ago, Nico didn't understand why for she looked perfectly healthy to him, but he was silently glad that he didn't have to teach them again, especially Jake. The thought was enough to bring embarrassment and anxiety crash onto him again.

"Come to Harry's classes." Percy suggested. Nico hadn't been to any of Harry's classes and he couldn't deny the curiosity he felt when he thought of attending. He was about the refuse because he was too pitiful when something stopped him. Why shouldn't I? I hate being locked up like this so why shouldn't I go to his classes? And even if Jake is there, why should that stop me? The voice in his head sounded much more confidant than Nico actually felt but he nodded anyway, making Percy grin.

_ I used to know my place was a spot next to you,_

_Now I'm searching the room for an empty seat,_

All of his nervousness came crashing down on top of him like rubble, however, when the next day he arrived in D.A.D.A and saw, to his horror, only two seats left: One next to Jake and one next to Draco bloody Malfoy. He met Hermione's eyes from across the room and she gave him a worried look, obviously noticing his dilemma and worried that he'd lock himself away again. Somehow, other people knowing how weak he was made him angry and determined to prove them wrong so, in a sudden act of bravery, Nico stormed over to the seat next to Malfoy and flung his bag onto the table, making him jump.

"Whatcha…Oh it's you." Draco looked at him with a blank expression on his face like he was trying to hide the emotions he wanted to show. "Hades' son." He murmured before turning back to his friends and continuing whatever evil plans they were conjuring up. Nico took in a deliberate deep breath and tried to calm his shaking fingers and frantic heart as he stopped the urge to look around the room.

_'Cause lately I don't even know what page you're on._

"Turn to page 394." Snape suddenly ordered as he glided down the middle isle to the front of the class, his black cloak swaying behind him, casting spells at the windows to block out the sunlight. He could sense the uneasiness from his other peers but Nico felt stronger and more comfortable in the darkness, his domain so to speak. He let his head snap up and look at the professor, who was glaring at the class, giving Harry a longer more hateful look before magically opening a book of his own. Percy had leant him some books, who had borrowed them from Hermione and now Nico opened his book to the correct page, cringing slightly at the sights that greeted him so early in the morning: Wizards and Witches screaming from whatever curse was being inflicted on them. One witch had clawed at her own arm so severely that she'd caused a huge amount of blood to leak from it. Nico looked away quickly and found himself looking at Jake, who was looking right back at him.

_ Oh, a simple complication,_

_Miscommunication lead to fall-out._

_So many things that I wish you knew,_

_So many walls that I can't break through._

He felt his face heat up but he couldn't look away. It was like Jake was physically holding him place with just his gaze and the millions of questions that were written across his face. Nico did look away, however, when he heard Malfoy's harsh snort from his side. Apparently Snape had taunted Harry and Malfoy found this terribly amusing. _Schadenfreude_, Nico thought bitterly. Across the room, Harry's lips were pressed so hard together in an attempt to keep his retort back that had turned white and Percy was gripping the table in an attempt to hit the professor or hit him around the head with his sword. Hermione looked frustrated but she was just keeping her cool and Annabeth was taking deep breaths and rubbing her shoulder to keep herself calm.

Nico was suddenly grateful that he hadn't heard whatever the professor had said, not knowing how he would have reacted. Becoming bored of taunting Harry, Snape began to actually teach, explaining in unnecessary detail about the results of certain curses and only briefly touching the actual counter-curse. He then asked everyone to get into partners to practice the counter-cure whilst adding, "But obviously not the Demigods. They don't have the _power_." Nico was suddenly considering attacking Snape with a skeleton army and then asking who had the power now. He joined Annabeth and Percy at the other side of the room but not before almost running into Jake.

_ Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room and we're not speaking,_

_And I'm dying to know is it killing you like it's killing me, yeah._

Muttering an apology, Nico sidestepped Jake and joined Annabeth and Percy.

"…That snotty, greasy, bloody bastard!" Percy seethed and Nico wondered why Annabeth hadn't scolded him for using that sort of language but as he looked at her, he could tell she was just as furious.

"Completely out of order." She agreed, angrily wrapping her arms across her chest and scowling at Snape, who simply raised an eyebrow at her and continued giving criticism to his students. Nico didn't bother asking what he had done, knowing it would just make him peeved so he watched Harry and Ron attempt the counter-curse. So far, Ron had managed to turn Harry's hair pink and cause his own robes to smoke slightly. Hermione had succeeded, of course, but she received no admiration from Snape who just wrinkled his nose at her and carried on. Hermione's expression told him that she was used to it. Once again, he met Jake's eyes from across the room and quickly looked away.

_ I don't know what to say, since the twist of fate when it all broke down,_

_And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now._

Finally the lesson ended and they were all able to escape the hellhole, Slytherin having been awarded 30 house-points and Gryffindor –20.

"That went well." Hermione said. The demigods raised their eyebrows at her. "Usually it's worse."

"Worse than _that_?" Percy said disbelievingly but Hermione just smiled slightly and shrugged. Her face twisted into pain, however, when Ron and Harry joined them.

"I have to go to the library." She said suddenly, wrapping her arms around herself and hurried off. Catching sight of Jake, who simply scowled at him and stalked away, Nico followed.

_How'd we end up this way?_

_See me nervously pulling at my clothes and trying to look busy,_

_And you're doing your best to avoid me._

_I'm starting to think one day I'll tell the story of us,_

_How I was losing my mind when I saw you here,_

_But you held your pride like you should've held me._

Nico gently tapped his quill onto his parchment as he divulged his mind into the topic at hand. He was helping Hermione in her Transfiguration, not that she needed help but it was nice to have time to herself once in a while. Transfiguration was quite hard when you couldn't perform it to check if you what you were writing was correct or not but Nico ignored the problem so he could keep his mind occupied.

"So what's wrong with you Jake?" Hermione suddenly asked, not even looking up from her Potions essay. Nico sighed, having expected this question for the past half hour. He quickly considered lying to her but decided to just tell her, suspecting that she'd know if he lied to her. Another trait she shared with Annabeth. He sighed in exasperation.

"I kissed him.," he said bluntly, making Hermione pause at his surprising forwardness.

"And he rejected you?" she asked.

"No." she looked up then, puzzled.

"Shout at you?" she asked.

"No." he answered again.

"I don't understand," she said, putting her quill down and putting her hands onto the table. "What happened."

"I ran before he could react."

"And you're ignoring each other why…?" she asked again. She likes to ask questions, Nico thought grumpily.

"I can't face him. Not after what I did. He's annoyed that I won't speak to him so he's ignoring me, too." Hermione's upper lip twitched before she composed herself.

"Seems to me your solution his very simple." Nico leant in, preparing for Hermione's advice. "Just go and speak to him." Nico's eager posture fell as he leant back and continued Hermione's Transfiguration. "Why…?"

"Because I'm embarrassed." He hissed, glaring at her. "Ok? I'm scared what he'll say and I'm embarrassed." He felt his cheeks flame.

"Well your other option is to keep ignoring him and I know you don't want that." Hermione gave him a knowing smile before she pointed to the table near the back of the library where Jake himself sat reading. "Go." She ordered. _She's right_, the voice in his head said, _just go over to him and apologize_. Sighing in frustration and nervousness, Nico stood up, walked over to Jake and sat across from him.

_ This is looking like a contest,_

_Of who can act like they care less,_

_But I liked it better when you were on my side._

"Pathetic." Jake murmured before he could say anything. Nico blinked in confusion.

"What?"

"I said you're pathetic." Jake said more loudly but not loud enough for anybody but Nico to hear. "Running away and locking yourself up like a sulky child." He spat at him, his face turning red in rage, not in embarrassment like Nico's. "And you're a coward. You're pathetic and a coward." Nico expected the words to hurt but instead, they made him angry.

"What the hell would you know?" he snapped back. "You don't know me!"

"I know that you didn't have to bullocks to face me and just hid away in your own comfort bubble!"

"I came over to apologise!" He suddenly realized that he'd been yelling and he now found himself standing up with his arms on the table as he leant forwards towards Jake. Jake's posture matched his own. Breathing threw his rage Nico slowly sat down. Adrenaline coursed through his veins like fire, making him unable to sit still. He didn't want to fight. He just wanted to forget the past five weeks and go back to how things were before because Nico was positive he could force his feelings down and never let them out again. He'd been doing it for three years so why should Jake be any different? He was also aware that if he survived the attack on Hogwarts, he would have to go back to America and therefore, not see Jake again.

_The battle's in your hands now,_

_But I would lay my armor down_

_If you said you'd rather love than fight._

_So many things that you wished I knew,_

_But the story of us might be ending soon._

"Nico." Jake spoke slowly and quietly. "I don't want to fight with you but you're going to have to talk to me." As Nico looked up he met Jake's intense gaze and he felt the emotional wall that he'd held up for so long crumble away, leaving him exposed.

"I'm sorry." He breathed. He felt sick and he finally let his weak-self flicker across his face.

_Now I'm standing alone in a crowded room and we're not speaking,_

_And I'm dying to know is it killing you like it's killing me, yeah?_

_I don't know what to say, since the twist of fate when it all broke down,_

_And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now, now, now._

Then Jake was there, tenderly grabbing his arm and making him look up at him. Jake was smiling, as if Nico had offered him his greatest desire.

"It doesn't matter." He said sincerely. "I don't care what you did. You're my friend and you always will be." Nico smiled back at him, pushing back the pain that reminded him that Jake only wanted to be friends. Then Jake hugged him and everything was better.

_ And we're not speaking,_

_And I'm dying to know is it killing you like it's killing me, yeah?_

_I don't know what to say, since the twist of fate 'cause we're going down,_

_And the story of us looks a lot like a tragedy now._

* * *

"The end." Ron concluded as he slowly stroked his thumb across Lavender's hand.

"I don't know why she's making such a fuss," Lavender said, looking at Ron lovingly, which made Percy want to gag. "She should just look the other way." Percy felt Annabeth tense at his side at Lavender's words. Ron had just been telling them why Hermione was avoiding him and Annabeth's loyalty to Annabeth made her instantly dislike Lavender with the entire fibber in her being. Percy had already known about Hermione's feelings for Ron before he had sucked Lavender's face off at the party like an octopus' tentacles and so he did understand her reaction, unlike clueless Ron and Lavender. Even Harry freakin Potter knew. He did feel sorry for Hermione but the way Annabeth's hand twitched like she wanted to hit Lavender across the face was a bit of an over-reaction. He would never voice this aloud or her rage would be taken out on him.

"Maybe she's just sensitive." Annabeth snapped at Lavender. Harry and Percy met each other's gaze and they both had to bite their lower lips to stop from laughing. Clueless Ron and Lavender didn't pick up on Annabeth's harsh tone and so continued to ramble on about Hermione until Annabeth was threatening to combust.

"Maybe we should go to lunch." Percy said as he pulled Annabeth to her feet, Harry quickly getting the idea and joining them. Annabeth looked at him gratefully.

"Yeah, I'm hungry." Harry reached out and touched Annabeth's shoulder to immediately remove his hand in a scream, which Annabeth mimicked. Percy reacted without thinking as he wrapped his arms around Annabeth's waist to keep her hitting the floor. Harry was clutching his hand and looking at Annabeth with a frightened expression on his face.

"What…?"

"Annabeth show me your shoulder." Harry gasped.

"Why?" she moaned. Percy was looking at Harry, hoping for some answers but he seemed to be busy trying to breath to explain himself. Trusting Harry and only slightly scared out of his wits, Percy told Annabeth to show them her right shoulder. She slowly grabbed the neckline of her jumper and pulled it down to reveal her shoulder. Carved into her skin was an eye, which was red like a burn mark and by Annabeth's sceptical expression, she'd obviously not noticed it before now.

"Oh no." Harry breathed, his green eyes so wide that it would have been comical in another situation.

"What is it, mate?" Ron asked, frowning in confusion.

"Annabeth…" then the iris of the eye began to glow red and a green smoke began to swirl around her shoes, just like when Rachael made a prophecy. This, however, was anything but a prophecy. To Percy it seemed like hours not seconds until he reacted by reaching out for Annabeth and grabbing her arms, forcing his eyes away from the one on her shoulder.

"Annabeth stay with me." His voice cracked, revealing that he was terrified. Annabeth looked at him, petrified, unable to speak but the fear in her eyes ripped at Percy's heart. Then, Annabeth began to fade.

"Annabeth!" he yelped.

"Percy." She chocked out. Percy's grip began to slacken when Annabeth's arms began to loose its solitude and in his final act of desperation, Percy leaped for Annabeth only to grasp onto nothing.

* * *

This was my first song-fic and I was wondering if it annoys you or if it's not that bad. I'm considering doing another song-fic in a later chapter but if they annoy you, some people find it quite irritating, then I won't do it ;) The song is 'The Story of Us' by Taylor Swift.

Anyway, I was trying to move it along a bit so that's the reason for the 5 week jump and the slightly dramatic ending. Hope you enjoy and feel free to review -x-


	10. Merry Christmas, Annabeth Chase

She was back in the dungeon she had dreamt about on the first night at Hogwarts apart from the unmistakable fact that she was actually in the dungeon, not dreaming about it. Most of the time when your dreaming, you don't realize but Annabeth had adapted to her dreams and had trained her mind to recognise her dream state when she was in it. For the past five years of her life, Annabeth had never dreamt without knowing it was a dream. So standing in the middle of the dungeon, clutching her arms to keep the breezy draft from chilling and desperately trying to keep out the foul odour in the dungeon was not going to be dismissed as a nightmare. She was actually there. How, she didn't know. All she had felt was a searing burning sensation on her shoulder when Harry touched her, like her body was repelling his touch and presence like poison. She had caught a glance of her right shoulder when she was told to reveal it but her mind had clouded the image away from her so she wouldn't go insane.

No matter how curious she was about what exactly was carved into her shoulder, she would never look and risk shattering her mind. Nothing could be that bad, she thought bitterly to herself, you're just over-reacting. But as she made a move to look at it, she immediately drew back, like her mind was telling her: "Woah! You don't want to do that!" Physically shaking, Annabeth examined the dungeon. It was unbearably dark but her eyes were beginning to adjust and she could make out a shape at the other side of the dungeon that looked like a door. Walking slowly so she couldn't trip over her feet or anything else that could be littering the floor, Annabeth made her way towards the potential door as she used the wall as guidance. The stonewall was very cold and rough so it caused shivers down her body and scraped at her hand but she didn't pull away in fear she would loose the little sense of direction she possessed.

When he hand touched something wet, however, she jerked back and, in result, lost the wall. Gritting her teeth, she focussed on the shape and continued her journey towards it until she could reach out and grab what must have been a handle. She twisted and pushed and, surprisingly, the door gave way. Annabeth knew that something wasn't right, who kidnaps someone and let's them escape? However, desperation and the suffocating prospect of freedom caused her to fall through the doors without any plan. I should be awarded Athena's best thinking daughter, she thought to herself bitterly when she released what she'd done.

She was in a much more brighter room, even though there wasn't any windows, and the walls were brick, not stone. In the middle of the room stood who Annabeth guessed was Voldemort himself. He wore a long, black cloak that covered his entire body and his red, snake like eyes were staring expectantly at her. The eyes resembled the eye on her shoulder and Annabeth was suddenly overwhelmed with fear as she turned to flee from the room, only to find the door had disappeared.

"Take a seat, daughter of Athena." Voldemort's calm and soothing voice would not suggest how twisted and evil he actually was and it was only his shocking appearance and the knowledge of his actions that kept Annabeth from trusting him. He's very charismatic, Annabeth thought as she took the seat Voldemort had summoned for her, that's very dangerous for us. She had wondered before how Voldemort had so many followers, she couldn't believe the amount of people were willing to inflict the amount of pain and torment on another person, but now she could see the draw he had on people. He'd only spoken one sentence to her and already Annabeth could tell how persuasive he could be when he truly tried.

"Send me back." She ordered, weakly. As she looked around, she didn't understand what use she could possibly be to The Dark Lord and if he intended just to torture her surely he would of done it by now and he wouldn't invite her to sit like he was going to offer her tea. Voldemort simply smiled. She expected an evil grin with a crazed look in his bloody eyes and maybe a cackle but, apart from his skull-like face and red eyes, he looked almost human. She could see how he used to look, when he was young and handsome, Tom Riddle.

"I'm afraid that can not be arranged." He looked at her with sympathy, as if he knew what she was feeling and was sorry even though he was doing it to her. A dreadful thought sprang into her mind: Did he do this to all of those he killed? Did he make them feel like it was the best thing for them, to die? Did he make them beg him for forgiveness? The prospect made her feel sick but it also made her more alert and more resistance to Voldemort's charm.

"What do you want?" she snapped. Voldemort smiled again and placed his bony hands onto the suddenly appeared table. Annabeth jumped, startled.

"You can imagine my surprise when I was informed about the gods and their children." He began. "How you and your fellow demigods could hide away from the Wizarding World is a great achievement." He complimented. "And I hope you can see how useful you would be to me." Annabeth had been thinking about it and she supposed that her being the daughter of a goddess would be good to boast about but she didn't have any special powers that could help Voldemort. It was Percy and Nico who were the powerful ones, not her.

"Not really."

"You underestimate your importance, Annabeth Chase." Voldemort leaned towards her and she instinctively leaned away. "Your influence could start a war and that's what I need." He stood up then and began to pace the room, his hands placed behind his back like he was going to produce a speech, which he probably was. "Even now your friends are planning whatever it takes to rescue you. Can you imagine the sort of chaos I could create if I offered your safety for their corporation?"

"You want to use me to get to Percy and Nico?" her voice cracked as she realized how Voldemort's plan would work: He'd offer Percy my safety for his alliance and she knew that Percy would accept and that would lead to Nico joining Percy to keep him safe. Annabeth knew about Nico's crush on her boyfriend but it never really bothered her before. She felt sorry for Nico and his awkward ways and retained from informing Percy of his feelings, knowing it would just embarrass Nico. She was secretly relieved when Nico met Jake, previously worried that Nico was beginning to resent her for being the one Percy choose. However, she knew that even though Nico may not have feelings for Percy anymore, he would still join forces with Voldemort if Percy were forced to. Then Voldemort would have two very powerful demigods on his side and the key to Harry Potter. Harry would come to Voldemort because of Percy and Harry would die. It was like a chain reaction between them all and their friendship seemed to be the thing that would destroy them all. The irony was cruel. Voldemort was grinning down at her.

"You understand now?" he asked her. She reluctantly nodded her head. She felt hallow and dirty for she was going to become the spark that could destroy her friends and bring war upon the world.

* * *

Life was becoming unbearable since Annabeth's mysterious disappearance. Percy had retreated into himself; he refused to eat, talk or anything except for researching for an answer. He was broken and if things got worse, he was going to do something extremely stupid. Nico was also suffering; he stayed at Percy's side all day everyday, bringing Percy some food and practically force-feeding him. He was the only one who could get Percy to communicate or look after himself. After two weeks the two demigods had become a sort of ghost story because they were never seen by anybody around the school. Hermione was working herself into overdrive as she tried to come up with any sort of answer about where Annabeth was or how she disappeared, her hair had become a permanent frizz and her eyes blacker than Nico's. She'd even been allowed to leave Hogwarts for a week to work with the Order, making Harry realize how much he needed Hermione when he was faced with a mountain of Homework or when he just needed advice.

Ron had Lavender to relieve any upset he may have, making out with her shamelessly in the most public of places: The Great Hall, The Common Room and even classes, which really pissed of Snape and McGonogal. Hermione's heartbreak when she saw them together and Ron's incapability to recognise other people's emotions made Harry seriously look at his best friend a little distastefully. The sadness that was surrounding his friends and the war looming ahead was all too much for Harry. It was like they were all part of him and they were all slowly slipping away from him. Even seeing Nico's unhappiness caused his own even though he's only just met the guy and he was kind of creepy.

The only things that he looked forward to was his lessons from Dumbledore, the little bit of Quidditch he did when he wasn't helping to find Annabeth and the conversations he had with Ginny. Ginny was like the only source of light in a pitch, black room. She comforted him when he came to her with his worries an problems and she would then try to cheer him up with stories about Fred and George, Ron's disasters in the past and laps around the Quidditch pitch. She was the only close friend he had who wasn't falling apart or spent their time devouring Lavender Brown.

"It was the most bizarre scene I have ever seen." Ginny was laughing at both the story and Harry as he clutched his side and gasped for breath between the bursts of laughter. "Ron running through the house completely naked whilst a stray chicken chased him, pecking his ankles? I mean even considering the possibility is enough to make you burst into fits of laughter, never mind actually seeing it!"

"Stop…it!" he gasped again, his chest hurting from trying to retain his laughter.

"It's the spider I feel sorry for," she continued, a sly grin flittering across her face. "I'd sure hate being mistaken for a bar of soap and being pressed against Ron's body." She shivered to emphasise her repulsion. Harry hadn't laughed this hard since Annabeth disappeared and it felt nice to just forget about all the bad stuff that was going on.

"So are you excited for Christmas?" Ginny asked him when Harry had calmed himself down. Harry looked at her and smiled sadly.

"I'm very glad your staying." He admitted before looking away, a blush forming on his cheeks. "But I don't feel like celebrating." He said quickly. Harry was supposed to be going to the Burrow with Ron and Ginny but couldn't leave Percy and Nico alone in Hogwarts, even though he didn't even know where they were for they had disappeared a week ago. Both Ginny and Ron had volunteered to stay behind and Harry was grateful for their generosity. The fact that Lavender was going home and Ron's mouth wouldn't' be constantly attached to hers was a pleasurable bonus.

"I know." She said, hesitantly patting his shoulder and making the gesture awkward. Smiling, Harry placed his hand over hers, which made her blush and smile back.

"Should we practice Quidditch?" she asked suddenly, jerking away from Harry's hold and nervously placing a strand of hair behind her ear. "The game between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff is just after Christmas and we need our captain." Harry winced. It was true; he didn't attend the last Quidditch game between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw because of everything that was going on with the demigods. He still captained his team of course, he just hadn't played a real match yet and he knew that even though nobody voiced their complaints, a few people were getting annoyed at his lack of professionalism. True there was the war and Annabeth to worry about but he still had to keep up his responsibilities, no matter how insignificant they were compared to everything else. If Dumbledore can run Hogwarts, The Order and still do all of the other little things he' responsible for, then so can Harry. He smiled reassuringly at her, ignoring the awkward tension that had juts arose, and nodded his head.

"You're right."

To get back up in the air and turn all of his attention on the practice match and instructing his teammates was a huge relief. He didn't have to worry about anything when he was flying except for the position of the snitch and making sure that everybody was playing to the best of their potential.

"It's great isn't it?" Ginny yelled to him over the wind. "Flying?" Her hair was scraggy and her cheeks were red but she was grinning like she was the happiest person alive. Harry knew he must look just like her.

"Yeah!" he shouted back, his eyes scanning the pitch for any sign of the snitch. His eyes rested on his team as they passed the quaffle between them. They had all agreed to stay over Christmas to get some extra practice in and Harry found their dedication his inspiration to try harder and made an effort.

"Harry…"

"I think that we're going to beat Hufflepuff," he said, grinning down as his team. "Maybe the whole thing."

"Harry…"

"But of course I'm going to have to put in more of an effort." He said, talking to himself now and wrongly ignoring Ginny. "I promise I will."

"For goodness sake Harry!" Ginny grabbed his arm and he yelped at her tight grip. Ginny rolled her eyes before she pointed towards the ground where Percy Jackson was standing and looking up at them. Percy looked horrible; his hair didn't look like it had been washed, his eyes were black, his clothes were dirty and torn and he was so white he could have actually passed as a ghost. Harry could make out all of these details from the height he was at so he dreaded what he must look like close up.

"Can you…?"

"Of course." Ginny snapped before flying towards the rest of the team. Sighing, Harry brought his broomstick downwards before landing and walking over to Percy. Close up, Percy looked like an experiment gone wrong. He looked dead or dying as his blood-shot eyes raked over Harry, like they were having trouble focusing.

"Percy." He whispered, afraid he'd scare Percy of like he was a startled deer. Percy's cracked lips twitched in an almost smile.

"We think we have a lead." His voice cracked like he hadn't used it in years. "We think we know how he got Annabeth."

"Really?" he placed his broom on the floor and walked closer to Percy, who had begun to smile properly.

"Yeah. He must have done it when she was in that comma."

"How?" Harry didn't know why he didn't just hug Percy, exclaiming his brilliance and reassuring him that they would find Annabeth but his stupid curious brain couldn't help asking questions even though it could hurt his friends. It didn't faze Percy though as his eyes sparkled with hope and knowledge.

"Accessing her dreams." He said. "When demigods have dreams, we dream of reality. I can't tell you the amount of times I've accidentally overheard conversations between my enemies in my dreams and they can talk to me." His eyes seemed to beg Harry to understand as he spoke and the funny thing (or sad thing) was, he actually knew what Percy was talking about. He'd been tortured by entering Voldemort's mind for the past two years or so. "What if Voldemort could use that to his advantage? Wait for Annabeth to dream about him and then access her mind?" Percy paused and then his eyes got larger like he'd just realised something he'd missed. "What if it wasn't a stray hex from you or Draco? What if it was actually Voldemort's spy?"

"I thought we'd already said it was Voldemort who put her in the comma?"

"But it obviously wasn't Voldemort because Voldemort can't get into Hogwarts. It has to be somebody already inside."

"Draco." Harry whispered. Of course it was Draco! He'd completely forgotten about his suspicions that Draco was now a Death Eater and a spy of Voldemort since the demigods arrived. Now, however, he could see how easily Draco could get to Annabeth. He was the one who started the taunting after all.

"Maybe." Percy didn't look convinced but he didn't object either. "Whatever curse hit Annabeth could have easily put her into a comma, and therefore, make her dream. All Voldemort had to do then was to access her dreams and capture her."

"Placing that eye on her." Harry nodded. "Maybe it was like a apparition spell? Or a port key that activated when I touched it? I don't know but I'm sure Voldemort could have come up with something undetectable." Percy nodded his agreement.

"We're going to find her," Percy promised, his fists clenching and unclenching. "I'm going to find her."

"I know." Harry said, smiling reassuringly at him and he believed what he said. Percy would follow Annabeth to the end of he world and back. He glanced up at the rest of his team.

"Go." Percy ordered after following his line of sight. "Me and Nico are going to Dumbledore now."

"You sure?" he asked. Percy just smiled and gestured for him to get back on his broom.

"I'm going to see you Christmas morning right?"

"Sure." And with that, Harry flew up to his fellow teammates with his promise to make more of an effort ringing in his ears.

The sight of new fallen snow would have been enough to cheer anybody up but as Percy was currently suffering from a deep depression that could only be evaporated by the return on his captured girlfriend, kind of made frozen water falling from the sky and settling on any available surface sort of unimportant. In Nico's blunt words.

"Obviously I know how hard it is for you," he was saying as he paced the Gryffindor Common Room that was deserted apart from them, due to the fact that it was 5:00am. "But you need to carry on. We've given all of our theories to Dumbledore and he seemed pretty convinced that he's going to find Annabeth's location." Percy was following his movement with unseeing eyes, which made Nico sigh in frustration.

Percy had been in this withdrawal state for three weeks, since Annabeth's kidnapping and apart from frantically searching the library for any information or going through bag-full after bag-full of drachmas to send iris messages to speak to Chiron. Nico could remember the last time Annabeth had been taken (How could he forget? His whole life had changed.) And he could remember how heroic Percy had been, sneaking out of the camp to join the quest in finding her. Back then, Percy had seemed like a hero and even though Nico felt betrayed and guilt reddened when he had returned and told him his sister was dead, Nico still felt admiration to the first hero he'd ever met. Percy had proven himself to be strong over and over again and seeing Nico's hero acting so weak and beaten made him feel angry. "For gods sake, Percy, say something!"

"What do you want me say?" Percy asked a little snappish, a bit of his old self-showing when he was angry.

"Anything." Nico said with a blank expression before turning and heading towards the portrait whole.  
"Where are you going?" Percy asked, more lively.

"Jake wanted to show me something," he answered without turning around. "And right now, even a half-unconscious Jake is better than talking to you." He ignored Percy's "But it's 5:00am!" and let the portrait hole fall close.

"I hope your happy outsider! Waking me up at this time." Nico ignored the Fat Lady too and instead made his way towards the grounds where Jake said he would be. Walking around Hogwarts at night was even better than walking around in the day, probably because of the absent of people. The shadows made the castle seem traditionally haunted like in scary stories and movies and the full moon, which he could see out of one of the windowless windows, illuminated the grounds and made the snow sparkle like thousands of tiny crystals. Smiling, Nico walked into the grounds and found Jake under the large Oak Tree. It was becoming a sort of tradition to meet people under the Oak Tree.

"Hey Nico." Jake greeted him. "I've not seen you properly for three weeks." Nico sat next to Jake and blocked out the chill that the wind caused.

"I've been with Percy." Was it him or did Jake flinch?

"Because of Annabeth?"

"Yeah." He started to pluck grass from the ground and tried to block out the anger he felt when he thought about Percy. Obviously it wasn't his fault; he was suffering, after all. If anything, Nico should feel pity towards Percy, not snap at him for feeling troubled.

"Nico." Jake whispered. Nico looked up to see Jake extremely close to his own face and it took all of his self-control and dignity not to act without thinking; he didn't want a repeat of Halloween. Instead, Nico tried to focus on a perching bird above Jake's head but his eyes strayed to Jake's. He could see every shade of blue in Jake's eyes and Nico had to force his own away.

"Wha-what are you doing?" he stuttered. He felt his cheeks blush from embarrassment at both the close proximity they were currently in and how nervous Jake made him. He was the Son of Hades, the Ghost King and this boy had the power to strip away all of his Outer-control. Jake simply smiled, which made Nico blush even more and would probably look odd on his pale skin.

"It must be hard," Jake began, leaning even closer and caused Nico to lean back until his back hit the trunk of the tree. "Looking after Percy, who is supposed to be looking after you."

"Percy doesn't look after me!" Nico snapped, affronted.

"That's the spark." Jake's eyes gleamed in the moonlight as he leant forwards and closed the remaining space, pressing his lips against Nico's. Later on, Nico would have liked to say that he struggled but the truth was, Nico couldn't have objected even if he wanted to, which he defiantly didn't.

The exchange of Christmas presents and the Christmas feast did boost up Percy's mood slightly and Nico's words did hit him hard. He knew that wallowing in self-pity and heartbreak wasn't going to bring Annabeth back and what would bring her back was him to sharpen his ideas and work with Harry properly instead of walking away every time he saw him. Ron had given him sweets, Lavender a symptomatic pat on the shoulder, Hermione had given him a schoolbook, which he couldn't read because of his dyslexia, and Nico had given him a customary blueberry muffin (Grinning like an idiot as he did so) before running off to Ravenclaw Common Room. Harry's present, however, was pretty amazing. Harry had taught him how to play Quidditch and Percy could defiantly see the thrill of the game.

At first, he thought it wouldn't be a good idea with Zeus hating him entering his domain but it would seem Zeus couldn't be bothered blasting him out of the sky and so let him fly on the broomstick. It was the first time he'd laughed since Annabeth disappeared and Percy's joy seemed to be contagious as Harry walked around the castle with a grin on his face and Hermione didn't look as flustered as she used to. Watching Ron and Lavender make-out on the couch in front of him was a defiantly a mood-killer and he happily followed Hermione over to the chairs next to the fire, leaving an very uncomfortable Harry as he tried to pick at his clothes and divert his eyes

"Thank you for everything your doing for Annabeth." He said awkwardly, suddenly realizing he hadn't actually had a proper conversation with Hermione just the two of them. Hermione seemed to notice that too for she shifted uncomfortably in her chair and tried not to look at Percy too long.

"You're welcome." She replied, lamely, obviously not knowing what to say.

"Seriously." He said, gazing respectfully at the girl who had tried so hard to find Annabeth and would probably find the answer to where she was. Hermione looked at him directly, smiling tiredly at him from beneath her humid hair.

"I'm not going to pretend to know how you feel because I honestly have no idea. But if it's any consolation, Annabeth is probably one of the best people I've ever met and I'll do everything I can to get her back to you." Percy looked in wonder at this girl who received no thanks for all of the stuff she's done for those around her. He knew that if it weren't for Hermione Granger, Harry and Ron would be dead and that the boys didn't know how lucky they were to have her as their friend.

"If you can do that for me, Hermione, I'm going to take you to America and show you all of the magical places I can find. Oh, and all of the books your heart desires." Hermione looked at him with shock as he rose from the chair and walked towards one of the windows. He looked up at the stars and wondered if Annabeth was looking at the same stars he was currently looking at. It was a soppy and unrealistic hope, he knew, but it was nice to think he was close to Annabeth even though they were apart. He placed his hands into his pocket due to the cold to touch something solid, round and smooth.

_"Just put it in your pocket!" Annabeth smacked his arm playfully as Percy bowed to her. _

_"I shall protect it with my life, Miss Chase." He had then spun her around, ignoring the curious gazes of the Gryffindors, and took the pearl out of her hand. He then looked at her slyly and placed the pearl to his lips before putting it into his pocket. "When I touch it, I'll think of you. When my eyes fall upon it, I'll know you are with me. When…"_

_"Ok, stop it!" Annabeth ordered, rolling her eyes as Percy started to chuckle. "That's the last time I ask you to hold something for me."_

He must have forgotten to give it her back. The pearl hadn't changed from the moment he had first seen it but his perspective had. It seemed precious now, almost delicate.

"I will find you," he promised the pearl. "If it means searching until I'm gray or giving my life for yours, I will bring you home." He then looked back at the stars and clutched the pearl like a lifeline. "Merry Christmas, Annabeth Chase."

* * *

I'm no good at romance between characters so I found this chapter quite hard :L Anyway, the war is looming overhead ;) I always said that after the Christmas chapter, everything would start to happen so expect more drama and the war very soon. Anyway, feel free to review -x-


	11. Condition

Dumbledore rubbed at his eyes, feeling all of his years smother him into exhaustion, and tried to flex his cursed hand, which was just as immobile as ever. The blackened skin was hard to look at but it reminded him of his quest and the actions he would have to take to preserve Harry and, hopefully, stop Voldemort's onslaught. He had first thought bringing the demigods over to Hogwarts was a splendid idea of Harry's, the first miracle he had experienced, but now he wasn't so sure. Yes, they had offered valuable information about their enemies and how to defeat them but bringing them to Hogwarts put them all in danger and now one of them was a prisoner.

Dumbledore could see perfectly how Voldemort's plan would go and it was that simple and magnificent that he couldn't do a thing to stop it, unless he did the unthinkable. He had thought about it once Annabeth had been captured out of quick desperation but he had dismissed it with ease but now it wasn't just the demigod's lives in danger, it was the whole world. He was willing to sacrifice his own life for Harry's victory but could he actually use somebody's unwilling sacrifice, even for the greater good?

The answer was a positive no but Dumbledore had to do something or else his whole plan would crumble. He could use the same plan but tweak a few details so Percy Jackson could actually have a good chance of saving Annabeth instead of none at all but there was a chance it could all go wrong. The other options, however, were worse and so Dumbledore came to the reluctant conclusion on going ahead with the plan, guiltily hoping it would work.

"Bring Harry and Percy to my office, please." He asked the room at large, knowing that at least one of the portraits would obey and bring the boys. Looking around his office, he suddenly felt the pain of loss and fear that he had been retaining since the plan formed in his mind, over a year ago. At the beginning, he had to concentrate on making sure Harry was prepared, Severus was informed and loyal to his part and Hogwarts was armed once he left so he hadn't had time to worry about himself and what he was about to do. Now he was getting scared, even though he had trained himself to embrace death and not fear it.

"Professor?" Harry and Percy were standing in the doorway, the posture of heroes Dumbledore knew they would become. They were both so young, not even of age, yet the responsibility of everybody's lives was being thrust upon them. Dumbledore placed his spectacles back onto his nose, taking a deep breath as he did so, and cleared his sullen expression into his normal, cheery face.

"Take a seat, boys." He gestured to the two seats situated in front of his desk, twining his fingers together and resting them on the wood. Harry's confidence when crossing the room and sitting on the chair showed just how much he had grown over the years; Dumbledore could remember the small, awkward boy who would blush and stutter in his presence and Harry's development warmed him. Percy, though confident in his element, hesitated at the door before sitting next to Harry, slowly taking in his surroundings. Percy looked better from when Dumbledore had briefly seen him at Christmas but he was still pale and his eyes still seemed empty. Guilt made reappearance but he pushed it make almost immediately.

"A message from the Dark Lord has reached a few ears from the Order." He stated, calmly waiting as the boys' faces twisted into a grimaces before their eyes widened at the possibilities this message could bring.

"What is it?" Percy asked, breathlessly, leaning forward in his seat.

"An exchange, as I think you've both feared." Percy's look of desperate interest did not wither but Harry's face contorted in pain as his fear began to form.

"Percy…"

"What exactly does he want?" Percy ignored Harry's plea and instead stared right into Dumbledore's eyes, practically begging him to tell him the news.

"He wants you to give yourself up." He said quietly, watching with sad interest when Percy began to nod several times.

"I'll do it."

"Percy!" Harry grabbed his arm and forced Percy to look at him. "Think about it!"

"I have." Percy said indignantly. "And my answer is yes."

"But think about the consequences. For goodness sake, Percy, you'll bring everyone down with you!"

"I don't care!" Percy suddenly stood up, knocking the chair onto the ground. "She's my responsibility and it's my fault that Voldemort's got his hands on her. If there's even a little chance I can get her back, then I'm going to do it." Percy was slowly breathing as if controlling his anger.

"If you do this, then Nico, Hermione, Ron, Myself and the whole world come with you." Harry tried to reason with Percy but, as Dumbledore had predicted, Percy wasn't listening so, regretfully, Dumbledore cleared his throat and prepared his sort-of-lie.

"There is another way." He said, forcing calm and confidence into his voice to reassure the boys that what he was about to say was completely true. Percy paused and slowly picked up the chair but didn't sit down.

"Go on."

"You could deny Voldemort his wish…"

"No. Annabeth will die." Dumbledore waved his hand and was rewarded with forced silence.

"You could deny Voldemort his wish," he began again. "Which would ruin his plan completely. However, in order to keep Annabeth safe, you must come up with a condition."

"A condition?" Harry asked.

"Yes. You must refuse Voldemort's offer to muddle up his plan, which I am sure is seen as flawless to him, but come with a condition to make sure Annabeth is safe. The possibility of having you in his grasp would be too alluring to a control-addict like Tom and I do not doubt that he will try and use Annabeth against you once more to try and contradict your condition." He paused to let it sink in before continuing. "This will give you precious time to rescue Annabeth without forfeiting your own life."

"Do you know where she is?" Percy asked, sitting down in his chair like standing was too hard for him. Dumbledore forced his mouth open and almost chocked on the knot in his throat.

"Yes. The Order has informed me of her whereabouts."

"The lets go!" Percy grinned and sprang to his feet once more.

"It is not determined just yet." Percy's face fell slightly but he didn't interrupt. "Once we are 100% certain on where she is being kept, we will send this reply to Voldemort and prepare a rescue party. Percy slowly nodded and Dumbledore watched as he thought about his answer.

"I'll do that." He finally said and Dumbledore almost smiled when Harry jumped up and hugged him. Almost.

"Let's go and tell Nico." Harry said, steering Percy towards the door.

"Actually, Harry, I would like to talk to you about out lessons." Dumbledore said, both relieved that his plan had worked but still feeling immensely guilty for what he'd just done. Harry nodded towards Percy, who was too busy smiling to himself to even notice, before sitting back down.

"Sir?"

"I've found another Horcrux." He stood up and started to pace around the room, his hands clasped around his back. "And I would like to come with me, if you don't mind, of course." Harry's eyes lit up and an excited grin formed on his face.

"Of course. When?" he asked, eagerly. Dumbledore smiled fondly at the boy before turning away in case some of his true emotions leaked onto his face.

"Tomorrow night. Make sure to be here at 7 and I would appreciate it if you only told your very close friends and not to spread this around the Common Room. I am afraid the spy is still thriving."

"It's Draco Malfoy, I know it is!" Harry groaned. "I know he had the Dark Mark, I just know it." Dumbledore hated lying to Harry but if his plan was to succeed his had to.

"I'm sorry Harry but I know for a fact that Draco Malfoy is not the spy."

"And how could you possibly know that if you don't even know who the spy is?" Harry snapped, anger at being dismissed so soon raising irritation.

"I know that Mr Malfoy is not the main spy because I already know that he's spying for a completely different purpose." He informed, truthfully. Harry gaped before shutting his mouth.

"Sir, why have you not expelled Malfoy?"

"Because he is just a child that has been brainwashed since birth, " he stared out of his window and out to the starless night. "Besides, the information that Draco is giving Voldemort is not terribly important, not like the other spy."

"I don't understand." Dumbledore sighed and turned towards the young saviour.

"Draco does not know that he is worth very little and that Voldemort has another spy in Hogwarts, who is very valuable to him. Draco believes he is worth a lot because he was forced to believe that from both his father and Voldemort himself. You've met him several times before Harry, you can't deny that he very persuasive." Harry reluctantly nodded his head. "I have observed Mr Malfoy and noticed the amount of stress he is suffering, whilst also making sure he doesn't accidentally pick up important information."

"You're sure you have him under control professor?" Harry looked sceptical and Dumbledore smiled at his concern.

"I'm positive."

"And you have no idea who this other spy is?" Dumbledore frowned. He was worried about this other spy and he was reluctant to leave Hogwarts whilst this spy was still in their mist but he had to. Maybe once he was gone the spy would come out.

"I'm afraid not, Harry, which is why I advise you to keep most of this a secret." Harry nodded his understanding before leaving with a quick nod in Dumbledore's direction. Once Harry left, Dumbledore returned to rubbing his eyes and attempting to move his dead hand.

* * *

"And you're going tonight?" Hermione asked, worriedly the next day when Harry and told them about Dumbledore's meeting. He had caught up with Hermione and Percy when they were talking in the Common Room and had dragged them to the Room of Requirement, where Ron; Lavender; Nico; Ginny and Jake were already sitting on beanbags. The room was decorated in blue and the carpet was white but apart from the beanbags and the casual art décor on the walls, there was nothing else in the room. Harry, Hermione and Percy had sat down on the three remaining beanbags and Harry had described last evening, Percy occasionally adding a few extra details.

"Yes." Harry said, a smile spreading across his face.

"Be careful." Hermione said, worriedly.

" 'Mione, he's going with Dumbledore. Of course he'll be safe!" As usual, Hermione completely ignored Ron and his hand that was entwined with Lavender's.

"And you're not going to accept Voldemort's offering are you?" Harry asked Percy, concern flickering across his happy face. Percy shook his head and smiled reassuringly at him.

"I've decided to give Dumbledore three days to give me a location before I accept." He stopped Harry from interrupting before he could with a quick shake of his head. "I think that's pretty reasonable considering I could easily accept his offer right now and get Annabeth back." Harry blushed slightly and nodded his head submissively.

"Make sure you destroy that horcrux, Harry. The sooner, the better." Jake said coldly and Nico wondered, not for the first time, what had happened to Jake under Voldemort's influence. He's probably lost someone, he thought, as he squeezed his hand. Jake smiled down at him and pecked his cheek, making Nico blush furiously at Percy's amused look.

"I promise." Harry said sternly to Jake who nodded his respect.

"Should we go to my dormitory or yours?" he whispered in Nico's ear, making him both blush and feel a flutter in his stomach.

"Yours," he whispered back, suddenly smirking as a new wave of confidence washed over him. "Less interruptions." Nico and Jake sprang to their feet, offered words of encouragement to Harry before leaving the room at an almost run.

"Yeah we'd better be off too." Ron said, yawning. He walked out of the Room without Lavender, who squeaked and ran after him.

"Me too." Hermione said sadly, staring after Ron with both betrayal and love. "Good luck Harry." She then left slowly, dragging her feet and hanging her head low. Harry didn't realize he was left with just Ginny until she placed her hands onto his shoulders.

"I'm not going to wish you luck because I know you don't need it." She said, guiding him to his feet and standing way too close for comfort. Harry felt awkward all of sudden, the last relationship he had going completely wrong, and he didn't want his and Ginny's friendship being ruined like his and Cho's.

"Maybe it was because she wasn't right for you." It took him a while to realize he had spoken his fear aloud and when he did, be blushed. Ginny smiled before slowly leaning upwards and kissing him. He didn't pull away and this time, it was much better than his first.

"I'll be waiting." She whispered before leaving. Harry took and deep breath before following, walking towards Dumbledore's office to go hunting for a horcrux.

* * *

I apologize for the wait, but I was suffering from writer's block and I know this chapter wasn't very long but I intend to write more tomorrow. Anyway, feel free to review :) -x-


	12. Spy

**WARNING: character death and Half-Blood Prince spoiler. **

* * *

"What's the camp like?" Jake asked him, breaking the pleasant silence. Nico looked away from the Ravenclaw, Common Room's fire reluctantly and instead settled his eyes on Jake. Nico noticed how Jake's eyes sparkled with interest and his lip twitched upwards slightly, his hand's clenching and unclenching and his foot tapping slightly. Nico knew these were all indicators of Jake's thirst for knowledge, which could be both flattering and annoying, depending on Nico's mood. Now, it was quite annoying for he both felt drained and the touchy subject.

He hated the Camp, and not just because of Percy. Everybody avoided him like the plague, giving him a wide berth whenever he walked past or glancing towards him whenever something bad happened. He had thought that since the battle, he would gain respect from his fellow demigods for his father's and his own contribution to the battle, whilst all of the other gods fought someplace else.

Nico couldn't shift the thought that their sudden involvement saved lives and if that wasn't proof that he wasn't evil he didn't know was. As Jake raised an eyebrow in question at his lack of speech, Nico wondered how he could say the Camp was awful and smash Jake's child-like wonder so instead of revealing all of the bad things about the Camp, he thought back to the time Percy had described the Camp to him. He told Jake about the Camp by actually describing its appearance and the mechanism that kept it safe, whilst avoiding the actual people.

"It sounds pretty amazing." Jake breathed out in what Nico was sure was admiration. It's anything but, he thought bitterly as he mind played back the time a Son of Ares cornered him and punched the shit out of him, just because of his father. He hadn't told anybody about it – just covered the bruises in make up he had found in his sister's belongings. The bullying and physical abuse meant that Nico had to retort to applying the make up daily and so he had had to buy some for himself, which was a very humiliating experience. Since he arrived at Hogwarts, however, he hadn't bought a single piece of makeup.

"Yeah, it's pretty great." He replies through gritted teeth.

"Too bad you're lying to me." Nico snapped back into concentration and saw Jake's challenging look as if he was saying: 'Don't like to me.' Being a very defensive person, Nico ignored the look.

"What do you mean?" Jake sighed and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees and hands tucked under his chin

"There's no point lying, Nico, I know when you're lying." Nico blushed and uncrossed his legs, lying back into his chair.

"Alright." He said finally, averting his eyes and looking back into the flames. "The truth is, I hate the camp. Everybody's and bitch and there's nothing I can do about it apart from keeping away."

"What about Percy and Annabeth?"

"I've not told them," and then Nico added. "And I'm not going to." to Jake, who looked like he was going to interrupt.

"Why?"

"What can they do? Apart from telling everybody off, which won't work by the way, they can't do a thing about it. Sometimes I forget I'm still a kid and this is just the sort of shit some kids go through." He picked at his robe and flicked at his nails but he still avoided eye contact out of shame.

"You shouldn't have to." Jake replied, a slight harshness to his voice that Nico had only heard once when Jake told Harry to destroy the horcrux.

"Yeah, well." He shook his shoulders. Then he was there, grabbing his hands and forcing him to look up.

"Seriously, you shouldn't have to go through that. You haven't done anything wrong." His concern was heart wrenching, yet pointless. Nico smiled his tired smile.

"I was born. That's enough." Pain crossed Jake's face before he leant down and connected their lips. This kiss was much more emotional than their first, as if they were promising each other things that even they didn't know but they continued like their lives depended on it. Nico had never felt so close to anybody before and when he wrapped his arms around Jake's neck, Jake grinned and flung himself into Nico's lap. He jumped and gasped at the sudden increase of weight, which gave Jake the opportunity to gently place his tongue at the entrance of his mouth. Nico stilled instantly, cheeks flaming at this new territory. He knew he was being stupid but the fact that he hadn't mean intimate with anybody before, everything that was new seemed to be the most terrifying thing in the world.

"It doesn't matter. I'll stop." Jake whispered before drawing back slightly. Instinctively, Nico pulled him back and took the lead, plunging his own tongue into Jake's mouth and earning a quiet moan. However, fate must have really hated him for somebody cleared their throat loudly and made him yelp in surprise. Jake rolled off him and landed on the floor with an 'umph!'

"Percy! Hermione!" he gasped at his two friends. Hermione was smiling a small smile at him whilst Percy was practically smirking, causing Nico's blush and humiliation to increase dramatically. He thought he would simultaneously combust when Jake, unfazed, sat onto his lap when there was a perfectly unoccupied chair right in front of him.

"Having fun?" Percy teased and Nico resulted in burying his face in Jakes neck to calm himself down.

"What are you doing here?" he asked against Jake.

"What?"

"I said, what are you doing here?" he repeated, raising his head.

"We've come to ask you if you'll help stand guard around the school. We think that because Dumbledore's gone looking for the horcrux with Harry that this would be a perfect opportunity for Voldemort to act." Hermione explained in her professional tone of voice, which Nico had first thought was patronizing but now saw it as usefully intelligent.

"Sure." Jake replied before standing up and helping Nico to his feet. "Where are we situated?" he asked. Hermione looked thoughtful for a second before snapping her fingers and made Nico and Percy snigger slightly.

"How about the Room of Requirement?" she suggested. "It'll be a useful place to send anyone who needs weapons or to take anybody who is injured, just in case thee is a battle tonight." She seemed calm but Nico could tell she was internally terrified.

"That'd be good." Nico reassured her with a smile, which she returned gratefully. He then took Jake's hand and led him out of the Ravenclaw Dormitory and towards the Room of Requirement

* * *

"Just kill me!" Harry watched in a desperate panic as Dumbledore rolled on the floor and begged for death. This was the man that Harry had looked up to since he was eleven years old and this was the man who Harry believed whole-heartedly was the most powerful Wizard in the world and he was killing him. He had to force his hands to gather the poison and pour it down his headmaster's throat, whilst murmuring pointless encouragement in his ear. He convulsed again – tears running freely down his face – and screamed in pain, ripping more holes in Harry's tattered resolve.

"Please…make it stop." He whimpered when Harry returned with the last drops of the potion, the necklace held tightly in his fist.

"It's the last bit, I promise." He then gave it to him and watched in horror as Dumbledore shrieked once more.

"Water." Dumbledore whispered into the sand. Jumping to attention, Harry tried to conjure water but failed so resulted in taking water from the surrounding lake. That was when a cold, dead hand grabbed him and dragged him under the water. Harry flailed and tried desperately to fight of the dead souls that were trying to drag him down even further down into the lake. He gasped for air once he couldn't hold his breath any longer and swallowed. His whole body felt like it was covered in ice and his limbs began to go limp.

_"Hello Harry."_ A calm voice smoke in his mind, which immediately cleared all of his fear. "I'll take away all of your fear." It whispered and Harry didn't even try to resist. His splendid isolation was dashed, however, when a blinding light erupted from above the surface and he found himself spluttering on the small rock island.

Then everything past in a pleasant blur. The voice in his head continued to mutter encouragement and offered him endless happiness, whilst his body walked at Dumbledore's side out of the cave and apparated to Hogsmeade.

_"I can stop all of the pain and award you with endless light."_ It promised as they arrived at Hogwarts by broomsticks. His body was covered in his invisibility cloak and his unseeing eyes were fixed on Dumbledore's and Draco's confrontation but his mind was listening intensely to the voice.

_"You can see your parents again."_ A vision of his parents popped into his mind; his father was bouncing him on his knee whilst his mother held onto his father's shoulders, grinning. A fierce longing overtook him – why shouldn't he be with his parents? Why should he be the only one he knows that hasn't got his parents? _I want that_, he thought,_ I want that._ The voice chuckled, enlightening Harry until his unseeing eyes suddenly started to see and his mind cleared, only to wish it hadn't. He watched, unable to move, as Dumbledore fell from the tower and Snape led Draco out of the room. Harry screamed in anger and agony before he fell to his knees, his vision blurring.

_"I can take the pain away. All you have to do is say yes."_

"YES!" and then everything went white.

* * *

"What did Voldemort do to you?" Nico asked Jake as he tried to ignore his aching legs. Jake yelped and spun around to face him.

"What do you mean?" he demanded, his face turning chrisom.

"I knew since you told Harry to destroy the horcrux. Did he kill somebody in your family? Or a friend?" looking at Jake's devastated face; Nico cursed himself for his inconsiderate approach. "You don't need to say anything." He murmured, turning away.

"No it's fine." He took a deep breath and let it out. "My mother. He killed her last year." Nico felt suddenly awkward.

"Sorry." He whispered, his own mother's face appearing in his mind. He had been very young when she had died but there was one simple memory of her that he refused to let go; she was leaning over him, smiling and making funny faces so that he would start laughing. It was such a small and short memory yet it was extremely precious to him. The Zeus' face popped into his mind and a vicious hatred burned his throat.

"We'll make sure he pays." He promised.

"Nico." Jake whispered; his face was pale white and his arm was outstretched, pointing behind him. Nico spun around and came face-to-face with a masked man/woman – he couldn't tell because of the mask – who was pointing a wand right at his face. However, before they could even mutter a spell, Jake flung a stunning spell in their direction and knocked the death-eater unconscious.

"Thanks…"

"No time for that," Jake said, gesturing towards three more death eaters and two Chimeras. "You take the Chimeras, I'll take the death eaters." Nico didn't need to be told twice. He jumped into battle without a moment thought, unyielding his sword and slashing the first Chimera to dust before it had the chance to even blink.

The second was more alert and avoided Nico's strike quite easily, whilst attacking him with its scorpion's sting. Nico jumped to the side, narrowly avoided what would have been certain death, and swung his sword in a perfect arch and grinned as his sword made contact with Chimera. It roared in pain and anger before striking and catching Nico's ankle. Cursing through the pain, Nico performed the killer strike and watched in satisfaction as the Chimera turned to dust alongside its comrade. He turned around towards Jake, who had taken out two death eaters, and joined him to defeat the last one.

"Ah this must be the Son of Hades." The death eater chuckled, whilst easily blocking Jake's spell. "He's as dark as you said, Jake." Nico paused and glanced over at Jake. What?

"Shut up." Jake gasped, throwing another spell at the death eater only to fail once more.

"Has he not told you, little demigod?" the death eater asked sarcastically. "He's the spy."

"I said shut up!" Jake yelled and this time, his spell made contact with the death eater and sent them flying down the corridor.

"What?" Nico breathed, unable to comprehend. Jake –_ his_ Jake – was the spy? But no, that couldn't be right because he wouldn't do that. The death eater was just messing with his mind and trying to set him against Jake, knowing that it would destroy them both. But Jake's guilty face and silence spoke a whole different story.

"I didn't do it for long. I stopped after the Halloween party, I promise." Jake said, his eyes begging him to understand. "Please." But Nico wasn't having any of it and presides; at least five Greek monsters were rapidly approaching them

* * *

Kind of rushed (Sorry about that) so sorry for mistakes and if your confused, things will be clearer next chapter. Feel free to review -x-


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